


You Better Work

by ravenclawswimmer



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 100 percent chance of smashing, Alternate Universe, Drag Shows, F/F, Pride Parade, Some angst, SuperCorp, drag bingo, kara is a drag king, lena is a senator, let's just pretend national city is the capital of the us, no powers, some slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-03-29 23:37:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19030261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawswimmer/pseuds/ravenclawswimmer
Summary: Kara is a senate staffer by day and a super hot drag king by night. Lena is the new senator in town, trying to escape the control of Lex, and finds herself hopelessly attracted to Kara in all forms. Get ready to work with the Drag House of El. Slow burn but hopefully worth it.





	1. Chapter 1

Lena raised her eyebrows as the overhead lights dimmed and a spotlight appeared, highlighting a circle on the dark curtains at the back of the stage. She should really be at her new apartment unpacking. Instead, Sam had convinced her to celebrate her political win and move to National City with an impromptu girls’ night at the local gay bar. Lena, typically hard to convince to put off responsibilities, was swayed by Sam’s promise of one of the best drag nights around. Lena was still in shock that she was able to beat the incumbent tool bag and honestly a little stressed about her move to a brand-new city. She hoped that the support she garnered during the race was of her own making. After all, she had done her very best to distance herself from her brother’s crackpot ideas about what was best for the world. Even with that effort, she didn’t know how many people voted for her because of, rather than in spite of, her last name. She glanced over at her friend, whose face was lit up in excitement, and she decided this was a pretty good way to get her mind off things. She had all weekend to unpack and the next six years to try to make a difference.

A thumping beat brought her back to the present as the overhead speaker blared, “Al’s Dive Bar! It’s draaaaaaaag night! Put your hands together for your emcee, the one, the only… it’s SMASH! CORONEL!”

The crowd roared to life as an extremely handsome man emerged from the curtains, squinting into the bright light with an adorable smile. Lena could just barely see his short hair swept to the side beneath his black trilby hat. As he sauntered out to the front of the stage, Lena got a better look at his perfectly fitted suit. Sam had mentioned how much fun the show would be, but failed to warn her how hot the emcee would be.

“Ladies! Gentlefellows! Both! Neither! Everyone in between! It’s my favorite night of the month…. I get to skip shaving,” Smash said as he gently stroked his chin, highlighting his amazing make-up which suggested a five o’clock shadow. He continued, “Stare into this blinding light,” he pulled the brim of his hat a little further down, “Watch beautiful ladies dance, and escape the outside world for at least a few hours. It’s been a long week, but here we are all family. Some of us closer than others….” The crowd giggled as Smash’s eyebrows wiggled comically. “I’m sure you didn’t come here just to watch me strut around… though don’t worry, I will later. But for now, let’s get the real party started. She’s the belle of the ball, she’s the la-guardian of all of our hearts… it’s LAGUARDIA BEL.”

A very tall, built woman appeared dressed head to toe in lime green, including wide legged pants, a fitted sash belt, and high angled ruffles jutting over her shoulders and around her neck, finished off with impossibly tall stiletto heels. Her makeup was impeccable, eye shadow accenting the green in her outfit and giving the appearance of high and angled cheek bones, with a burgundy pixie cut wig on top. Once the crowd’s clapping settled down, she began voguing to none other than Madonna’s “Vogue”, however added to the music were audio cues of camera clicks, accompanied by bright flashes that highlighted each pose. To further the effect of being at an actual photo shoot, photos were projected on a screen off to the left of the stage and Lena was amazed to note that each pose that LaGuardia hit was an exact match to the projected photo. It was a work of art that made the entire crowd feel like they were living inside a magazine, the glossy pages forming before their very eyes. Lena wondered if this drag queen had previous modeling experience or was just an extremely gifted dancer. As the song drew to an end, she walked through the crowd, posing for selfies with fans as bills were tucked into her décolletage and belt.

Lena, too caught up in watching the Amazonian lady bend down to fit in the frame with her fans, did not notice Smash returning to the stage until the crowd started laughing at his attempts to strike a pose. “Alright Ms. Bel, there’s plenty of time for more voguing after the show. But right now, we got to clear the stage.” LaGuardia scowled for a selfie one last time before giving the crowd a wave and disappearing. “Guys. Are you ready for the next act?” Smash paused and gave an expectant look at the crowd. After he got the response he was waiting for, he continued, “Don’t let her name fool you. She’s not the fishiest queen I know, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. It’s HOLLY MACKEREL!”

Lena had to suppress a giggle when Holly came strutting out in short, SHORT black shorts, a black camisole, 80s brown country hair (which Lena offhandedly contemplated how much time it would take her tease to begin to approach the height achieved by that wig), with make-up that walked the fine line between hooker and clown. Lena was a little disappointed to see the queen wearing sneakers instead of high heels, but tried to not judge her too much. As Holly started to lipsync flawlessly to “Party in the USA” Lena couldn’t help but clap along. While LaGuardia’s dancing was inspired by fashion magazines, Holly’s dancing seemed to be a direct translation of all of the lyrics. She put her hands up, then mimed listening to her song, she produced live? butterflies from her shirt, she nodded her head, she moved her hips, she partied in the USA. However, Lena, Sam, and crowd lost their collective minds when Holly revealed that her shoes, that looked just like silly skater shoes, were actually Heelys. Then she was nodding her head, moving her hips, partying in the USA while skating around the stage. She was, without a doubt, living her best life. And Lena decided she could forgive her for not wearing heels.

Though the first two acts were Lena’s favorites, the entire show was one amazing appearance after another. There were, of course, more lipsyncs, but also a strip tease that made Lena want to go buy new lingerie, and person after person dressed like beautiful women. When she wondered what could possibly be left in the show, Smash came out again, this time much more casually dressed with cowboy boots, jeans, and a vneck cotton shirt. He switched out his classy hat for a large cowboy one, pulled low, casting a shadow over half of his face. When he made it to the spotlight, his gaudy belt buckle caught the light. Growing up in Metropolis with the Luthors, Lena had never understood the allure of the slower speaking, easy going South, but she was just about ready to throw caution to the wind and yeehaw Smash right out of that belt buckle. 

As the music to “Cruise” started, Lena was shocked when Smash started to legitimately sing instead of just lipsync. In fact, Lena noted, not just sing, but sing well. Smash made it through the first verse and chorus gaze wandering through the crowd, smiling and swaying his hips to the song. Somewhere around “falling in love in the sweet heart of summer”, Smash’s focus zeroed in on Lena and Lena could do nothing but imagine rolling the windows down and cruising with him. Inexplicably in a pickup truck. No politics, no Luthors, just this striking cowboy and her driving around just so they could drive around. She had no idea what he could see through the spot light but she couldn’t shake the feeling of his piercing blue eyes burning into hers. She felt the rest of the room fade to black; it was just her being serenaded by the hottest drag king she had ever seen and the cheesy lyrics of a song she vaguely knew from the radio. She felt the hairs on her arm stand up as the tenor of Smash’s voice floated around her, the farfetched dream of moving away from it all seeming more and more rational.

She was still in a daze when the song ended and Sam had to bump into her to remind her to clap. She banged her two hands together in an approximation of applause, having forgotten the motor skill of actually clapping. Sam gave her a questioning look and the mesmerized woman tried her best to feign normalcy.

Smash speaking again saved Lena from unwanted questioning from her best friend. “Alright, guys! Hopefully the ladies have had enough time to change, because we only have the RUNWAY left. As always, the House of El is collecting donations for a good cause- this time it’s attorneys to help immigrants at the border- so please do what you can to help and throw some change into my hat!” He slipped off his hat and handed it to the closest member of the crowd. He ran his hand through his short blonde hair, sweeping it off to the side. “In celebration of all of the new congresspeople getting to work next week… actually I’ve spied at least one in the house tonight…” he gave Lena a quick wink, “the category of tonight’s runway is Madam President Realness. You. Better. WORK.” 

As “Woman” by Kesha played in the background, all of the queens from the night stomped up and down the stage in pant suits (most of them white), power heels, and no-nonsense hair. Lena couldn’t help but take some mental notes for what she should wear on Monday. Once the strutting was officially done, Smash collected his hat and introduced all of the queens one last time. With curtseys and bows, the performers filled off stage to the continued thunderous standing ovation. 

She leaned over the Sam and tried to speak over the clamor, “You were not kidding, that was by far one of the best drag shows I have ever seen.”

Sam smirked back, “Everybody was great, but it seemed like you wanted to… smash... into a certain someone.”

Lena rolled her eyes and berated herself. Had she been that obvious? But also, who wouldn’t want to smash that? She smiled coyly back. “Yeah, who knew voguing would still be cool 30 years later?”

Sam shook her head. “You know I’m not talking about LaGuardia.”

Lena lightly dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. “Well, if you aren’t talking about her, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Sam gave a half chuckle and gave a short “sure” in agreement as they gathered their things together.

\--

Kara was hard at work unbinding, disrobing, and changing out her contacts for glasses as she listened to the rest of the girls gossip as they untucked. She grimaced as she heard the telltale sound of duct tape being ripped from sensitive areas; no matter how many times she heard the ripping peel, she still felt it viscerally. As she ran her hand through her short hair, she couldn’t help but think that tonight was one of their best shows yet. Winn, despite falling multiple times at rehearsal, had nailed his lipsync, on wheels no less; and the weeks she heard about James’ new vogue act had not prepared her for the breathtaking image of seeing it in person. Plus, if the crowds’ response was any indication, she had sounded great while singing.

“Yoohoo! Kara, you almost done in your corner?” she heard a distant yell. She always found a calm spot to change, away from the other performers, after the show. It’s not that she was trying to avoid everyone else necessarily, it was just she preferred to change in peace and drag queens never did anything quietly.

“Yup,” she responded in her deepest voice possible, smiling as she heard the cackles from the rest of the crew. She made one last swipe at the make-up on her chin, readjusted her glasses, and slung her gym bag over her shoulder. The rest of the queens were in various stages of undress, but looking more and more comfortable by the minute.

Winn, already back in jeans and tshirt, using a compact mirror and a baby wipe to remove his remaining make up was no longer recognizable as Holly. He spied her through the small mirror and gave a smirk as he said, “You did particularly well tonight…”

Kara shrugged a little as she responded with her thanks.

Winn elbowed the person beside him, who was halfway through their transformation from LaGuardia back to James. “Don’t you think that performance had a little extra swagger tonight?” Winn asked as James grinned. Winn gently stroked his chin and stared sarcastically off into space. “I wonder why that could be?”

Kara drew her eyes together in confusion.

James looked over his shoulder to give Kara his own smirk and responded, “Why, Winn, I have no idea. Do you think it was the pretty lady that Smash couldn’t keep his eyes off the whole time?”

Kara’s lips drew together as she let out a short huff to deter this line of questioning.

“Oh!” gasped Winn in feigned surprise, his mouth turning into a melodramatic circle. “I hadn’t noticed the pretty lady. Do you mean the freshman senator who seemed equally entranced by our friend’s performance?”

Kara’s eyes lit up at the thought of that certain lady enjoying her singing, but tried to squash the excitement before her friends became aware of it. “That’s enough, guys. There’s wasn’t anything different about how I sang tonight!”

Winn and James continued as if Kara was no longer standing directly behind them. James leaned over to Winn and stage whispered, “Do you think Lena’s going to recognize Kara on Monday?”

Winn’s face lit up with glee. “I hope so! I hope they share white hot, smoldering eyes whenever they meet in the hallway.”

“And Kara starts running errands for Lena as well as Cat!”

“And Lena calls her Smash by accident!”

Kara readjusts her glasses. “Guys, I’m not even sure if I will see her Monday. And if I do, I’d like to think I’m a completely different person on stage than at work and it’s really not going to be a problem.”

Winn and James wobbled their heads in disbelief as their shoulders jumped up and down in quiet laughter. After a minute, James, now almost officially cleared of make-up, turned to Kara with a much more serious face. “Look, Kara, I know she’s hot…” 

Kara nodded unconsciously as she thought that was the understatement of the year.

James continued, still thoughtful, “And all of her politics look good on paper, but don’t be blinded by all of that. You have to remember who her brother is. What the Luthors have done…”

Kara frowned. “But, you can’t judge her just based on her last name? She’s her own person.”

James’ eyebrows continued to furrow together in worry, “Just be careful, okay? You always see the best in people… But, not everyone is good people.”

\--

Lena was surprised to see the amount of people protesting outside the Capitol as she walked up her office building on her first day. She sighed as she thought it can’t be a good sign that people were already upset and the new senators had barely been sworn in. As she walked closer, she could see that there were two groups angrily yelling at each other, and while she didn’t pause to read their signs, she could tell they were talking about the so-called bathroom bill that just barely got voted down last session. She couldn’t believe that terrible excuse for a bill was being brought to the floor again. The bill that was supposedly to protect people from who knows what in bathrooms, was actually just a thinly veiled justification to bring more hate into the world and Lena couldn’t wait to vote it down again.

She was able to quickly make her way around the crowd, slipping by because they were more focused on each other than her. She felt her shoulders relax as she stepped into the building, heels clicking on the white marble floor. She made it through security, eager to get to her office and meet with her staffers. 

A few steps down her hallway, she stopped short, looking up to see Cat Grant emphatically gesturing at a poor young woman. Lena felt bad for the woman, whose short blonde hair was falling slightly over her oversized glasses, furiously scribbling down notes on a pad. While Lena looked up to Cat Grant and hoped to one day carry the kind of power she did in the Senate, she had also heard tale of just how little respect Cat tended to have for her hard-working assistants.

Lena stepped closer to the two women, attempting to get Cat’s attention so she could introduce herself. “Ms. Grant!” Lena said as she jutted her right hand forward, “I’m Lena. Lena Luthor. It’s so nice to meet you!”

Cat raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her staffer, stuck out her own right hand and responded with, “Yes, yes, I know who you are.”

From her tone, Lena was unsure if that was a good or a bad thing. After a quick hand shake, Lena took her arm back and did her best to keep her shoulders proud. No need to show insecurity in front of the minority leader of the Senate. “I’m really looking forward to getting to work with you.”

Cat lightly hummed and Lena chanced a glance over to her staffer. She was staring intently at Lena and giving her serious Rachel Maddow vibes. Something about her face was extremely familiar to Lena, but she couldn’t place it. Cat cleared her throat and Lena’s attention snapped back to the Senator. She had no idea how long they she had been staring at the aide, but it was clearly long enough for Cat to notice. 

Once Lena’s attention was back on the senator, Cat continued, “Well, I’m looking forward to seeing if you can put actions behind your words.” She paused, continuing to stare at Lena like a mother trying to get a confession out of a child caught red handed. “And to see what kind of Luthor you are.”

A grimace flashed over Lena’s face, but only for a second. She was all too used to dealing with people making assumptions about her based on her brother. “I think you’ll find that I’m my own person.” She nodded and continued down the hallway not looking back.

\--

“Where was I?” Cat asked to an inattentive audience as Kara had turned completely away from Cat to watch Lena walk down the hallway. 

Kara couldn’t help but stare as Lena’s tight navy suit sauntered down the hallway, sharp clicks of her heels echoing softer and softer the further she got away.

Cat snapped her fingers, her lips curling up in amusement, but eyes drawn down in warning, “Excuse me. Keira! Am I interrupting something more pressing?”

Kara made an effort to pull both her gaze and her focus back to her boss. She knew the only reason she had survived as long as she had as Cat’s staffer was because of her ability to make Cat her number one priority. Cat prided herself on making decisions for the greater good of the country, but the only way she put the country first was if other people were looking after her. Kara blinked to clear the image of that navy suit that had embedded itself into her consciousness and tried to give Cat her most reassuring smile. 

Now that she once again had her staffer’s full attention, Cat asked again, “Where was I?”

Kara glanced down at her notebook, checking out the to do list she had been working on. She grimaced at the line her pen had inadvertently written diagonally across the entire page while watching Lena retreat down the hallway. She couldn’t deny there really was something mesmerizing about that woman. She was relieved that the list was mostly legible, despite the careless scribble and read through the last bullet point. “Last thing on the list was setting up one on one meetings with the freshman senators…”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Great. Well there’s at least one that I know you will be helpful with contacting.”

\--

Lena pressed her lips together to cover her smile at seeing her name “Senator Lena Luthor” in gold letters outside her new office. She waved at the couple of staffers who were already answering phones at their two desks and made her way between them to her private door. She opened it to reveal her plain office, nothing on her desk but a large computer, a tray for mail, and a small bouquet of flowers. She frowned as she walked over to the flowers, her expression deepening to a scowl as she let out a sigh of frustration when she read the card. 

Good luck on the first day. Always remember who got you here. -L

She threw the card and flowers into the trash bin, trying to remove the taint of her brother from her new office. After everything she had done to distance herself from LuthorCo during her campaign she certainly wasn’t going to start listening to her brother now. The main reason she was hesitant to get into politics was because she had spent her adult life trying to escape the Luthor name. While she never worked at LuthorCo, it was public knowledge they had set up multiple organizations over the years to donate money (and by money she meant millions and millions of dollars) to politicians who were on the right side of the aisle. Politicians who were willing to trade their morals for monetary support to assure political victory. Lex liked to think of himself as some sort of puppeteer mastermind, pulling the strings of their democracy behind a curtain of shell organizations, foundations, and political thinktanks. 

Lena was tired of seeing the pawns Lex had set up in the government, and came to National City with one purpose. To be her own person. To cut the strings of the Luthors (what a shitbag adoptive family anyways), and to hopefully make her constituents proud. No slightly threatening flowers were going to change that.

She plopped her bag down on the ground beside her desk and her desk phone buzzed. Her finger traced over the buttons as she searched for the intercom.

“Ah, yes?” Lena asked tentatively over the speaker.

“Ms. Danvers here to see you, ma’am.”

Lena had no idea who that was. She was off to a great start. “Send her in.”

A slightly timid, familiar blonde head popped into the room with a small smile. She adjusted her glasses as she shut the door behind her.

“Hi, Miss Luthor!” she said with more joy than Lena had ever heard her last name spoken.

Lena let a small smile cross her face, but her brows were still drawn together as she searched the face of the person she had seen so recently with Cat Grant. She looked so familiar. She stuck out her hand as she responded, “Please, call me Lena.”

Ms. Danvers grabbed Lena’s hand and gave it an exuberant shake explaining, “Oh! Well then call me Kara! I’m one of Ms. Grant's staffers.”

Lena nodded as she took back her hand. She scrolled through her mental rolodex looking for Kara, crosschecking for Danvers, and came up with nothing despite swearing she had seen those blue eyes before.

Kara glanced at the flowers in her trashcan, gave Lena a sympathetic look, but didn’t ask about them. “Having a good first day?”

Lena ignored the question and decided to ask a question of her own instead, “What brings you here, Kara?”

“Oh!” Kara smiled, nervously adjusting her glasses again, “Ms. Grant wanted to schedule a time to meet with you.” Lena preened a little. “Well, all of the freshman senators. To get to know them better.”

“Well, as I said before, I’d love to meet with her. Especially if I can assuage her worries about my last name.” Lena crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair.

Kara, never breaking eye contact with the new Senator, softly told her, “I wouldn’t worry about what she said before. She can be a little… brusque. But she means well and is actually extremely… unbiased.”

Lena sighed and softened. She knew she was fighting an uphill battle. “Regardless, I’d love to meet with her. You can talk to Jess or Eve out there and they’ll get something on the books.”

Kara seemed to take this as a dismissal and both women stood up, but before Kara could turn to leave she hesitated. She took a breath preparing to ask Lena something, then lost her nerve and let out a puff of silent air. Lena had no idea what to make of her, but took advantage of her indecision to ask what she had been wondering the entire time. “Have we met before? You look so familiar.”

Kara, in a break from her previously timid guise, smirked and responded, “Oh, I think I would remember meeting you, Lena Luthor.” Kara’s smirk grew as her eyebrows raised and she leaned forward to say, “You better get back to _work _.”__

__Lena’s eyes widen in understanding. She wasn’t sure if it was the smirk or the way Kara had pronounced “work” a little more like “werk” but she immediately knew why Kara had looked so familiar. She sat back down, her face falling into her outstretched hands, unable to watch Cat’s staffer leave, refusing to be caught staring as she walked away._ _

__Holy shit._ _

__Cat Grant’s staffer was a drag king._ _

__A hot drag king who she had pictured moving to the country with and buying a F150 for._ _

__And, honestly, was just as gorgeous out of drag with goofy giant glasses, the way she smiled when she said Luthor, taking notes with her stupid pad, the way the corner of her eyes crinkled-_ _

__NOPE. Lena quickly interrupted what was becoming an out of control list of thoughts she shouldn’t be having. She was not going to fall for her idol’s staffer. She was not going to have a crush on a coworker on her very first day on the job. She had things to do, other important things to do._ _

__She took a deep breath and tried to make a game plan. She could probably arrange it so she wouldn’t even have to see Kara anymore. She could just funnel all communications through her aids. Yes. She was making a big deal out of nothing. This was definitely _not _going to be a problem.___ _

____\--_ _ _ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara get to know each other better. And there's bingo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the comments and kudos on the first chapter! I hope you like this update!

Kara pressed her lips together to suppress a giggle from escaping at the look on Lena Luthor’s face when she finally pieced the puzzle together. She could almost see the lightbulb illuminating inside her brain. She never got tired of watching people’s reaction to meeting her two egos. She took pride in her transformation- not just with clothes and make-up, but how she changed the way she walked and presented herself. The drawback to having a successfully developed alternate personality? Once people met Smash, she was unsure what they would think about Kara. She had so much fun performing as Smash. He was confident, he made people laugh, he definitely had Lena Luthor’s full attention when he was on stage. But, that wasn’t really who she was for most of the day. Honestly, she really wanted Lena to like her just as much as she seemed to like Smash.

Her friends weren’t wrong. Lena completely captured her attention when she was performing, and she seemed even more impressive in person. Despite James’ warning, she already knew she didn’t have to worry about the other woman’s last name. Lena had made her feeling about her brother abundantly clear in the little time they had spent together. Kara couldn’t believe Lena had stood up to Cat and decided she didn’t want to be on the other end of a one of Lena Luthor’s glares. 

Being new in the Senate could be very hard work. It took Cat a long time to earn the place she had. But at least Lena’s staffers seemed up to the challenge. She traded contact information and scheduled a meeting for the two senators towards the end of the week, when hopefully Lena would be more settled. 

By the time she got back to Cat’s office, Nia was already briefing Cat on her schedule for the day.

“And after lunch?” Cat asked glancing at her watch.

Nia glanced down at her phone before replying, “1 o’clock meeting with Taylor George about the bathroom bill.” 

Kara sidled up to Nia, got out her phone to follow along with the review of Cat’s schedule.

Cat sighed. Kara knew she was annoyed that the senate was wasting it’s time trying to make discriminatory laws about which bathroom everyone was allowed to use when they could be doing literally anything else. “Where?”

“They’re coming here.”

Cat looked at Nia in confusion. “They?”

Nia nodded. “Taylor is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them/their.”

Kara crossed her arms and held back her smile watching the cogs churn in her boss’ mind.

“Ugh. Another thing to remember. Millennials are so annoying.” Cat rolled her eyes as shook her head, her annoyance clearly on display.

“Taylor’s 50,” Nia explained arching her eyebrows, readying herself for a fight. 

Cat shrugged. “Okay, people are so annoying.”

Kara let out a short giggle before jumping in. “Remembering pronouns shouldn’t be too difficult, Ms. Grant. It’s just like knowing someone’s name… and it’s just as important”

Cat didn’t seem convinced. “Whatever. Anything after?”

Nia patiently explained the remainder of the schedule and waited until Cat was safely ensconced in her office before bursting into laughter. “Yeah, Keira, pronouns are just as important as knowing someone’s name.”

Kara forced an exaggerated frown before joining in with Nia’s laughter. “I’m not sure why that seemed like a good argument to Cat. It’s been 6 years! Do you think she’ll ever know my name?”

Nia only stopped laughing long enough to let out a decisive “no.”

\--

Lena somehow survived her first week at the Capitol. She survived orientation. She survived her one on one meeting with Cat Grant. She survived phone calls from her electorate. She survived meeting with lobbyists. She fell into a good rhythm with Jess and Eve. She even avoided all three of her brother’s phone calls. So when Friday night came around, she found herself once again at Al’s Dive Bar with Sam. This time, though, it wasn’t Drag Night. Lena was a little relieved. She had avoided Kara enough throughout the work week and was in no way, shape, or form ready to face Cat Grant’s staffer as a dapper dressed, handsome man.

She had just finished recounting her first meeting with Cat Grant when she heard a squeal and felt a large, solid somebody bump abruptly into her. She turned to see Kara, blushing slightly, holding a beer in outstretched arms. 

Kara grimaced and shook off the spilled liquid from her arms. “I’m so sorry-“ she hurriedly apologized, before she looked up and realized who she was talking to. “Oh! Lena! Gosh! I didn’t get any on you, did I?”

Lena shook her head and gave Kara a small smile. “No. All fine here.”

“Oh good. I was just walking back to my table and I must have tripped on something and…” she mimicked losing her balance, almost sloshing more beer around in the process.

Lena’s smile grew wider as she watched the blonde swing the pint glass around without the slightest bit of caution. “Careful…”

Kara laughed adorably as she adjusted her glasses. A habit Lena was beginning to associate with the aide. “What are you doing here tonight?”

“Oh, we’re just relaxing after my first week…” Lena gestured to Sam. Sam cleared her throat and Lena startled, having once again found herself lost in the deep blue eyes. She turned to Sam and ignored the amused grin that had spread across her friend’s face while she was talking with Kara. “This is my friend, Sam.”

Kara wiped off a sticky hand on her jeans before offering it to Sam. “Hi Sam! I’m Kara. I saw you here last week, right?”

Sam’s eyes flickered from Lena to Kara before responding. “I’m surprised you noticed me-”

Lena nudged Sam under the table. She wasn’t exactly sure how Sam was going to finish that thought but knew she not want Kara to hear it.

Kara took no notice of the soft grunt that escaped Sam’s lips. “Oh yeah! You guys were front and center.” Kara glanced back over at Lena and smiled again. “Well, I should probably be getting back… and I don’t want to interrupt.”

“Oh you’re not interrupting anything.” Sam cut in, her smile growing as she looked back and forth between the other two women.

Kara’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Oh good.” She ran her hand through her hair, head tilted slightly down, as she looked at Lena through her glasses. “That’s good. Lena I’m sure I’ll see you around the Capitol.”

“Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah.” Lena stumbled on her words, rethinking her recent decision to avoid Kara at all costs. She knew she’d like nothing more than to get to know Kara better, but was still concerned over the political implications. 

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Sam. I’ll see you around, Lena.” 

Lena watched Kara walk away for a second longer than necessary and instantly regretted it as she turned to see Sam’s self-satisfied smile. “Shut up.”

Sam’s eyebrows rose as she shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t said anything…”

Lena pursed her lips together.

“You didn’t tell me you knew Smash.”

Realizing her friend had seen through the glasses without extra help did not improve Lena’s mood. “She’s one of Cat Grant’s aides.”

“You rambled on about your meeting with Cat and left out the fact that her aide is SMASH?”

Lena took a sip of wine and refused to answer.

“Oh my god, Lena! She’s just as hot as a woman as she is as Smash! And she seems to like you! How is this not front-page news?” Sam looked at Lena expectantly.

“I don’t know. We work together… it feels like it would be bad to pursue it.” Lena swirled the wine in her glass out of habit. She fought to keep the defeat out of her voice. “Especially since I just started. I want to actually do things while I’m here, you know? Try to make a difference?”

Sam looked confused. “I don’t see why you can’t do both?”

“I don’t know. She’s so sweet. How has she survived at the Capitol for so long? Working with Cat?”

“Maybe she’s tougher than she looks.” Sam paused as a smirk formed. “Afraid you can’t handle her?”

“Okay, that’s enough. How was your week?”

\--

“How many of these to we have left?” Winn whispered to Kara and James as he started pumping the bike pump up and down again. It was late Sunday night and Kara could tell Winn was getting tired. 

James waved his fingers around, looked off into space, as he did some quick mental math. “About half way done.”

“Don’t they look great, though?” Kara asked as her eyes swept from side to side. It was a little hard to tell in the darkness, but she could make out the rows and rows of white inflatable toilets that they had peppered the Capitol lawn with. Her hands had various colors of spray paint on them after writing slogans on each one. Her favorite was “keep your politics out of my pooper” but most were more benign. Mostly she hoped that all of the congresspeople who walked by would read some of them and really think about this bathroom bill. How policing which bathrooms everyone used was stupid. She shook her head in disgust before offering to Winn to take over.

“Want to switch?”

Winn wiped the sweat off his brow emphatically with his sleeve and threw the pump to the ground. “Definitely.”

Kara walked over to take over. “Just don’t forget the crest!”

Winn and James sighed and responded simultaneously, “We know!”

\--

As Lena strolled up to the Capitol on her second Monday, she prepared herself for the inevitable yelling that she had come to expect whenever she came to work. She was not prepared for the display of toilets that covered the lawn. It seemed like someone had been very busy the night before.

She saw clusters of her staffers, senators, and representatives pointing and laughing at some of the clever slogans. She stepped to the side of the sidewalk when she saw an opening to get a better view herself.

“Bathroom rights are human rights,” a voice said matter-of-factly in her right ear.

She jumped a little and turned to find Kara smiling beside her. “Well,” Lena responded, trying to recover from her surprise, “If a toilet says so… it must be true.” She gestured at the closest toilet that Kara had read from.

She received a short chuckle from Kara in return. They stood in silence for a second while Lena read over more of the slogans.

“This must have taken a lot of time…” she mused.

Kara made a noncommittal sound. “I guess. It should bring more attention to the vote anyways.”

Lena let out a sigh before responding. “I can’t believe they are bringing it to a vote again. It’s such a waste of time. They don’t have the votes to pass it!”

“People made promises during their campaign so I guess they think they need to try.”

“Well, I don’t know if this will change anybody’s mind about the matter but it definitely brightened my morning.” Lena shrugged. “I hope whoever did it doesn’t get in trouble!” 

Kara readjusted her glasses. “Eh, stuff like this happens a lot. I bet it’ll get cleaned up by tomorrow so no harm, no foul.”

As they continued to gaze at the toilets, Lena noticed a small symbol drawn on each toilet. It was a red, yellow, and blue pentagon with a small S inscribed inside. As her eyes searched through the rows, she found it on every toilet. She pointed at the closest one and asked Kara, “Do you know what that little mark is?”

Kara leaned in, like she was giving the S a closer inspection before shrugging. “No idea, but we should probably head inside.”

Lena checked her watch. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Lena was still thinking about the inflatable toilets as she walked into her office and she answered the phone on the first ring without checking who it was.

“Hello?”

“Ah, so my little sister is capable of answering the phone.”

Damnit, Lena mouthed silently to herself. She had made it a whole week of avoiding her brother. “Of course I am, Lex. What can I do for you?” she answered in a much brighter voice than normal in an attempt to cover her frustration.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on your new seat in the Senate.”

Lena interrupted, not allowing her brother to waste more of her time with pleasantries. “Cut to the chase, Lex. What do you want?”

“Just to know that I have your support on a few... important issues coming up.”

“I’m definitely not voting for the bathroom bill. I don’t care what you say.”

“Oh, Lena. I don’t care about that.” Lex gave a small chuckle as if caring about what bathroom people used would ever be a priority for him. “No, no, no. I’m concerned about much more important things. Like the new environmental regulations…”

Lena smirked even though she knew her brother couldn’t see it. “Awwww, not being able to toss toxic sludge into the creek hurting business, bro?”

“Lena.” Lex’s voice became sarcastically hurt. “We would never dispose of any of kind of waste inappropriately. No, this has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with how more regulations hurt small family businesses like ours.”

Lena couldn’t hold back her scoff. “Small family businesses? You own half the east coast, Lex. And maybe if you were a bit more concerned about the handling of toxic chemicals, you’d have a bit more hair.”

Lex ignored his sister’s jab and continued his pitch, this time in a slightly more sinister tone. “I’m just reminding you of where you come from and who got you here.” He paused. Lena waited. “And all that I’ve given can be taken away just as quickly.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, but my votes can’t be bought. Tell mother I said hello.” Lena banged the phone back into its holster before she gave her brother even a second to respond. She promised herself she wouldn’t let Lex get to her but she was also scared about the lengths he would go to try to control her votes. Lex was stubborn, obstinate, and not used to being told no. She shouldn’t have hung up on him, but she also did not want to deal with him anymore at the moment. She would face the consequences later. For now, she needed a coffee.

\--

Kara adjusted the messenger bag on her shoulder as she waited for the customer in front of her to make up his mind about what kind of milk he wanted in his latte. What was this amateur hour? It was mid-morning at the only coffee shop in the congressional office complex. Everybody should know their order by the time they were even close to the counter for fear of being trampled by over eager staffers. She glanced over to the small sitting area and saw a very vacant looking Lena Luthor who was watching the steam slowly pool off of her black coffee. She was leaning on her elbow, eyebrows drawn slightly together, eyes unfocused.

“Ma’am?”

Kara’s gaze flashed back to the barista and she quickly rattled off the order for Cat, Nia, and herself. With a glance back to Lena, she also ordered one of the giant chocolate chip cookies, unable to resist. She checked back in on Lena as she waited at the other end of the counter for her order.

Three hot drinks and 1 cookie in hand, she approached Lena’s table slowly, not wanting to scare the senator. “Hey Lena,” she said softly to declare her presence. When Lena looked up and gave her a small smile, her hesitancy calmed. “Do you mind if I join you?” 

“Of course not.”

“That’s good, because I got you this…” Kara place the slightly warmed cookie on the table beside Lena’s untouched coffee. In reply to Lena’s questioning look, Kara explained “It looked like maybe you could use a treat.” Kara’s hands rose to touch her glasses, a nervous habit that no matter how hard she tried to stop always came back. When Lena’s expression remained lost, Kara continued to be worried that she had misinterpreted the situation. Sure, Lena had agreed in a vague way to hang out with Kara but Kara just invited herself over here and it was clear Lena wasn’t having the best morning. Maybe she didn’t even like cookies. No, Kara chided herself. That was crazy. Everybody liked cookies.

Lena looked up to meet Kara’s eyes. “How could you tell?”

Kara gave a half shrug. “Well, I don’t know. You’ve been staring off into space for a little while.”

Lena gave a small nod as she ripped off a small piece of cookie, which Kara interpreted as a positive sign.

“Last time I saw you, you said the lawn toilets had brightened your morning… what happened?”

Lena sighed and nibbled some more cookie. “My brother called.”

“Oh.” Kara wasn’t sure that completely answered her question but patiently waited for Lena to continue. She liked watching Lena’s manicured hands as she daintily broke the giant cookie into smaller bite sized pieces. That was definitely a different approach than Kara used when it came to sweets.

Lena stared at the cookie as she tried to explain further. “I know he has certain….” she shrugged searching for the right word, “expectations about what I do here. And I thought I could escape his influence by moving away from Metropolis but it seems like his puppet master strings have a longer reach than I initially anticipated.” Lena looked up again and rolled her eyes. “Or, at least he thinks I’m still on a tight rein.”

“That’s crazy, Lena. You aren’t his to control.” Kara was surprised by how firm she sounded.

“I mean, I shouldn’t be.” Lena shrugged again. “I’m trying not to be.”

“What did he say? Is he pressuring you to vote a certain way?”

“Oh, I knew he was going to pressure me. I just wasn’t sure if it was going to be ear popping level or head crushing level.”

Kara ran her hand through her short hair, sweeping it more to the side. “Ehh, I don’t believe that. Lena Luthor can’t be crushed, especially not by her brother.”

Lena looked forlornly back at her half-eaten cookie.

“Seriously, Lena. Don’t let him pressure you. You’re the one in the Senate, not him.” Kara reached over and gave Lena’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I believe in you.” Kara saw Lena’s eyes flicker to their hands and Kara quickly pulled back, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Lena’s hand returned to the cookie and she muttered a soft, “Thanks, Kara.”

“Of course. Well, I should deliver these coffees.” Kara stood up and made to grab all three drinks, almost knocking over all three in the process. As they clattered together like bowling pins she let out a “gosh” and rolled her eyes at herself. Why was she such a klutz around Lena? Once all three drinks were firmly upright, she glanced up again. “You know, this was fun, but maybe next time we can get coffee a little further away from the office?”

Lena gave a small smile. “I’d like that.”

\--

Lena’s first vote on the Senate floor came and went. She was happy to join the majority voting down the discriminatory bathroom bill, but was frustrated that it had even been brought to the floor again. Kara was right about the toilets; they were gone the following day and nobody seemed too worried about them. She secretly wondered what they did with all of the inflatable toilets after removing them. She hoped whoever did it had a very elaborate pool party and took lots of pictures. After they were removed, it seemed like new sets of protestors were always rotating in and out every time she walked by. There were always conflicting groups mad about something and rather than fueling her determination to make big changes using the democratic process, her cynicism grew. The process for making new laws and regulations was slow, heated, and fraught, no matter the good intentions they started with.

Despite her initial efforts at avoidance, she started to see Kara around more and more. She couldn’t believe that she had so easily agreed to getting coffee with the staffer after she had decided to try to distance herself. But, as they shared smiles on the subway from the offices to the Capitol and exchanged pleasantries in the hallways, they seemed inevitably drawn together and Lena felt her resolve weakening, chipped away with each sweet smile from the handsome blonde. She was pretty sure Kara didn’t know how grateful she was for the cookie and the pep talk she received after getting wrecked by the phone call with Lex. She kept replaying Kara saying “I believe in you” whenever she was feeling insecure (which was more often than she liked to admit). Each time it made her feel a little calmer, a little more appreciated, and a little more ready to vote against whatever Lex wanted her to do.

She was riding the subway back to her office to pack up for the day when Kara appeared at the doors at full sprint, springing through the doors before they closed. Lena smiled to herself as she took in Kara’s slightly mussed appearance. The staffer was still breathing heavy as she grabbed a hold of a bar with one hand and used the other one to smooth out her button up shirt and tame some of her windblown hairs.

Lena, who found herself always being surprised by Kara’s sudden appearance at her side, was excited to return the favor. She stepped around another passenger, leaned in, and whispered, “Hey.”

Kara startled for a second before grinning. “Hey, Lena.” Her cheeks were still slightly flushed from exertion and her voice was a little breathier than normal. 

Lena’s brain knew that Kara’s appearance was due to her sprinting to make the train. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop her from imagining how Kara would look under other circumstances. She took a breath and had to turn away for a second to control the blood rushing to her face. “Long day?”

Kara nodded. “Always. But I’ve got to get home to change.”

“Oh?” Lena asked, not needing to fully form her question.

“Yeah, third Thursday of the month. It’s drag bingo night!”

Lena had gotten so used to seeing Kara around the office, getting to know staffer Kara, she had almost (almost) forgotten about their first meeting. But, of course, if there was drag bingo in National City, Smash would be involved. “Drag bingo, huh? That sounds like fun.”

“It is.” Kara’s eyes grew wide as an idea seemed to strike her. “You should come! It’s at the old bingo house downtown.”

“You know, I left all my daubers in Metropolis,” Lena deadpanned.

“Well, good thing you know people who can find one for you.” Kara winked. 

Even just talking about Smash and Lena could see Kara’s confidence growing. “Ah, I am lucky.”

“Seriously, though. 8PM. Come! Bring Sam!”

How could anybody say no to this woman? Lena certainly was incapable. 

The subway came to an abrupt stop cutting off Lena’s answer before she could even start to form words. No matter how many times she had ridden the train back and forth, she always found herself being thrown around like a sack of potatoes. One would think that they could adjust the deceleration to make for a smoother landing but that thought had apparently never crossed the engineers mind. This time she found herself being tossed into Kara and to stop herself from falling completely over, she had to fling a hand up to brace herself on Kara’s bicep. Kara’s very firm, very defined bicep. Lena could feel the tense muscle beneath Kara’s button up and took another deep steading breath that had nothing to do with her loss of balance.

When she looked up, she found an amused smile on Kara’s face. 

She cleared her throat as she loosened her grip on the other woman’s arm, letting her thumb smooth out the wrinkles in the fabric for a second. Kara’s arm felt strong, secure, and her hand itched to continue its exploration of the blonde’s perfect body. “Ah… thanks,” Lena murmured.

Kara continued to stare in Lena’s eyes. “Anytime.”

The subway doors dinged open, popping through the fog that always seemed to envelop the two women when they were together. Lena took another step away from the staffer, trying to put more distance between their bodies. She was unsure if her brain had regained control of her hand and did not want to do anything that she would regret. Especially at work. Kara gestured for Lena to disembark first and the Senator tucked a strand of hair behind her ear saying “I guess I’ll see you tonight…”

“Definitely.”

\--

As Kara rushed home to grab her Smash sack and a granola bar, she couldn’t stop thinking about Lena. At times it seemed like Lena was interested, but other times she seemed closed off and scared. Take that afternoon, for instance. Kara definitely felt a moment when the subway had physically forced Lena into her space. But that moment came and went, sailing by before anything could come from it. Kara had no idea what was holding the Senator back, and she definitely didn’t want to do anything that would make Lena uncomfortable. Kara had witnessed firsthand Lena putting up her emotional shields when confronted. Mostly, she hoped that Lena actually came tonight. 

By the time she got to the venue, the queens were already putting the finishing touches on their makeup and had their dresses laid out. She sprinted past the line of mirrors, giving James and Winn a quick pat before heading in the corner to change.  
James checked his phone and gave a whistle. “Cutting it close, Kara!”

“I know, I know.” She shouted over her shoulder as she buttoned up her shirt and popped her collar to tie her tie. Drag Bingo may be much smaller production than their Drag Night at Al’s Bar because there was less to plan and coordinate, but she still wanted to look good.

One of the queens who had been warming up the crowd stepped back into the dressing room. “Big crowd tonight, ladies!”

Winn turned to glance over at Kara. “I wonder if your new fan will be here…”

Kara squinted as she took off her glasses. “If you mean Lena… I hope so. I invited her.”

James and Winn traded glances. Kara thought Winn’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but honestly it was hard to tell with the amount of makeup pasted on. “You invited her?”

“Yeah. I saw her today and mentioned she should come,” Kara explained offhandedly.

James sighed. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You work with her… she’s a politician… how much do you know about her?” James sounded worried. Kara rolled her eyes. He had always been so protective of her.

“Guys. It’s not a big deal. I just ran into her and we were talking, and I said I had to go because of this and that she should come….”

Winn stood up to get her dress on. “Oh yeah, come on LaGuardia, that sounds like not a big deal.”

James smiled. “Yeah. You’re right. Smash can take care of himself. Plus, if he wants to go around breaking hearts, who are we to stop him?”

Kara sighed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah, definitely, not a big deal.” Neither Holly nor LaGuardia looked particularly convinced.

\--

Lena stepped through the doors of the slightly run down bingo house, taking in the wood paneling, the rows and rows of mismatched folding chairs, and the giant board to keep track of the called numbers. It would probably be easy to update the calling system to have it all electronic, from drawing the numbers to displaying them, but she liked how quaint this way seemed. Plus, she thought, it gave the drag queens something to do during the games.

After retrieving their bingo cards, daubers, and some unhealthy snacks from the snack bar, they found two open seats in the corner of the main room. Lena was glad they had arrived early. Kara hadn’t mentioned how popular drag bingo was in National City. By 8PM, every seat was filled and people were being turned away.

Lena stole a fry from Sam’s stash. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“I’m always down for drag bingo. You should know that.” Sam rested her head on her hand. “You’re welcome for the fry, too.”

Lena scoffed. “I’ll buy the next round.” 

“So, are you going to tell me about you and Kara or am I going to have to wait all night?”

“What about Kara and I?”

“I don’t know. Are you dating yet?”

Lena arched an eyebrow.

Sam shrugged. “I get a text asking to go to drag bingo a few hours ago and I can only imagine it’s because Kara asked you to come.”

“She did.”

“So, what’s going on with the two of you?”

Lena sighed. “Nothing.” At the look of disbelief on her friend’s face, she continued, “For now. It’s nice. I see her around the office building… she asked me to get coffee but we haven’t made any firm plans yet.”

“Lena! That sounds great! Make some firm plans!”

“Yeah. We’re here, aren’t we? I’m trying. I just don’t want to lose focus on my goals.”

“Uh huh.” Sam could convey sarcasm and disbelief with such few words.

Lena reached over to take another fry. “I also don’t want to get her messed up in all of the stuff with Lex.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Already talking about meeting the family! Wow!”

“Ugh, that’s not what I meant.”

“Lex is still giving you a hard time?”

“Lex is always giving me a hard time. I don’t know why I thought moving across the country would help. Now he just sees me as a more important pawn in his political chess game.”

“Well-“ Sam was cut off by a line of beautiful queens entering the front of the stage in a riotous rainbow of gowns. With their high heels, they looked like sparkly, giant goddesses. Lena could see Smash at the rear, microphone in hand, and she immediately felt like an idiot for not realizing who Kara was their first meeting. Sure, the glasses, make up, and clothes can change how you look, but there was no mistaking the smile and the piercing blue eyes. Lena swallowed hard when she saw the way the crisp, dark suit clung to Smash’s shoulders. Smash was back in his trilby hat with a smirk and a fuller beard adorning his face.

“Welcome to DRAG BINGO!” Smash said into the mic, the queens fanning out on either side the stage and leaving room at the center for Smash to do his introduction. “First of all, thanks for coming. We’ve got a big crowd tonight and if you aren’t feeling lucky, feel free to buy a few more Bingo cards from the lovely Bliss Extravaganza” Smash pointed to a smiling queen who did her best Price is Right interpretation highlighting her table full of extra bingo cards. “Double, triple your chances of a win and give more money to the Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention.” As the sound of chairs scooting against the tile floor formed a low rumble, Smash continued, “We’ve got some great prizes for you tonight, so let’s get to it. First two games are regular rules- five in a row any direction. Remember, if you have a winning card, shout Bingo and shout it loud. If we don’t hear it, it means it never happened. Alrighty, queens, let’s get to work.” 

Lena recognized both LaGuardia Bel and Holly Mackerel from the entertaining drag show from a few weeks ago. They made their way to the mechanical ball blower where ping pong balls were popping around like popcorn. Lena, not necessarily at bingo for the prizes, still felt a shiver of excitement as she lined up her bingo cards and waited for the first number to be called. 

As Holly held up the first ball, Smash called out “B7!” to the crowd, and another queen worked on lighting up the B7 square on the large sign at the side of the room. Lena did a quick scan of her cards and was disappointed she didn’t get to mark anything. And just like that, Lena was playing bingo for the first time in years. Luckily there was very few rules for her to remember. The first game ended unfathomably fast and Lena was forced to flip to the next group of cards with only a few marks on the page. 

The second game was going much better, she only needed 1 more to complete the diagonal when she heard a faint “bingo!” from the other side of the room. 

LaGuardia hurried over to check over the card. When she yelled out, “False alarm! We got a mistaken stamp over here!” the whole crowd cheered in response

“Yoo-hoooooo! Laaaaaadies, we need some more balls…” Smash started to say to Holly who was still working the ball machine. His eyes narrowed as he realized what he said. “… said no drag queen ever. Nevertheless, let’s persist. Let’s keep drawing until we have a true winner!”

Despite the second chance, Lena was still beat out by a particularly exuberant man a few rows away from her. In the end, she actually didn’t mind losing after she was gifted the celebratory dance he did around LaGuardia.

Smash let the two twirl around for the crowd for a few minutes before getting the games back on track. “X marks the spot! That’s right, this is a big one. We’re playing until you get both diagonals completely filled in. Winner gets a 1 night stay and a spa day for two at The NC Hotel, one of the finest of National City. A little staycation vacation. Get those daubers ready!”

Lena’s seemed to have left her luck at home. On a normal game, she would have won having completed multiple horizontal rows but was not even remotely close to forming a X. She heard Sam let out an excited squeak beside her and glanced over to see her friend doing quite well. A few calls later and her friend was standing yelling “Bingo!” to the crowded hall.

Smash glanced over to the two friends, gave Lena a quick smile, and sauntered over to check Sam’s card himself. Lena felt her pulse quicken as she waited for the handsome king to walk over. The feeling of her hand on Kara’s arm flashed through her memory, sending goosebumps down her arm. Her top teeth grazed her bottom lip as she shyly looked up at Smash who was leaning on the table just inches beside her checking Sam’s card. 

He still smelled like Kara. 

She had to keep her hands resolutely in her lap, clasped together, to prevent them from relieving their exciting afternoon and running them up and down Smash’s suit. She tried not to stare at the tight curve of Smash’s butt as he bent over to have a closer look at the possible winner.

Smash’s eyebrows were furrowed together as he quickly checked off each stamp on the X and it wasn’t long until he stood up to his full height and yelled, “We! Have! Ahhhhhh winner!”

He put his hand out, asking for a dance from Sam, and then tango’d the two of them to the front so Sam could collect her gift certificates. Lena couldn’t help but imagine herself in Sam’s shoes, held close to Smash’s chest, being led and twirled by confident arms, staring into the smile that seemed to light up Smash’s entire face no matter what he was wearing. While the crowd cheered on the happy couple, Lena felt the twinge of jealousy that her friend got to dance with Smash before she did. 

Sam was all smiles when she got back to the table. She leaned over to Lena and whispered, “Well, if you don’t date him, I’m going to.”

Lena scoffed and gently shoved her friend. She hoped Sam was joking. If Sam dated Smash she would 100% kill them both.

No matter her best efforts, Lena’s cards never pulled out a win. The jackpot game of blackout at the end of the night took a little longer to find a winner, but really with the bingo hall jam packed with participants, the games went fast. Lena still had fun watching both Smash and the drag queens walk around the room and interact with all of the people there. It just seemed like everybody was having fun.

At the end of the night, she wondered if there was any way she could catch up with Kara. Unfortunately, Sam had to get back to the babysitter, so she reluctantly left with her friend. She’d probably see Kara the next day at work, anyways. She had no idea how she went from actively avoiding the aide to hoping to catch a glimpse of her at work, but she was definitely finding her flimsy excuse of not wanting to date Cat’s staffer eroding away at a quicker and quicker pace. Whenever she saw the striking aide, she seemed to be incapable of higher-level thinking, rendering her restraint powerless. She normally hated feeling out of control, but the urge to throw political responsibilities to the wind and run away with Kara was sounding more and more appealing.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr ravenclawswimmer


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's pride y'all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started new hours at work so I haven't had as much time to write... however I am still super excited about this story and can't wait to continue it so don't worry, updates will happen!
> 
> FYI- the mature rating kicks in this chapter
> 
> HAPPY PRIDE

Kara caught glimpses of Lena around the Capitol the following week, but due to Cat’s most recent tirade had no time to actually talk to Lena until she happened upon the new Senator at the coffee shop eating lunch. Compared to last time, Lena looked like her normal composed self and because of this, Kara was slightly hesitant to approach the formidable woman. Armed with a cookie, she decided she could handle it.

Lena eyed the blond woman coming and gave what Kara hoped was an encouraging smile. 

“I come bearing cookie. May I join you?”

Lena lightly laughed and nodded. “I hope I don’t look like I’m in need of another cookie!”

Kara nervously readjusted her glasses. “Oh no, of course not. You look great…” she cleared her throat. “I mean, no, you don’t look like you need a cookie, I just thought it would be nice.”

Lena lightly grazed her hand over Kara’s as she expressed her thanks. Kara took a quick intake of breath, feeling Lena’s warm hand brush over hers.

“Ah, do you mind if I join you?” Kara asked holding up her brightly colored polka dot lunch box.

Lena flashed an amused smile and arched one brow at Kara’s lunch holder (which Kara may have bought in the children’s section last month), but nodded nonetheless.

Kara sat down and got out her Tupperware full of left over potstickers from the night before. This was turning out to be one of her best lunches ever. “Has Sam figured out when she’s going to use her NC Hotel prize yet?”

Lena shook her head. “No, she’s saving it for a special occasion.” Lena took a small bite of her salad before continuing. “I didn’t know you were such a good dancer…”

Kara felt her cheeks warm up. “Well, Smash is a much better dancer than me, but…” she shrugged, “it’s fun.”

Lena’s voice lowered a little when she said, “I bet you are always a great dancer.”

Kara nervously chuckled as she chewed through a potsticker. Was Lena flirting with her? She felt like Lena was flirting with her. Should she ask her out? She should definitely ask her out. “Do you...” she cleared her throat, “Do you want to go dancing sometime? With me?”

“I’d love to… but this weekend I’m out of town.”

“Oh, yeah, me too. I’m going to Metropolis Pride!”

“Metropolis? I thought you were from around here?”

“House of El!” Kara responded. When she received a blank look from Lena, she explained further. “The House of El, my drag house, was started by my cousin in Metropolis. So even though I usually just work in National City, a few of the girls and I try to make it every year to pride there.”

“You know, I’ve heard you mention the House of El a few times while you are performing, but I don’t actually know what it is…”

“Drag houses are like… families. Found families. That support people no matter who they are. Anyways, my cousin, Margo Steel, started the House of El not only to help drag queens, but also we try to do good in the world. Hope, help, compassion for all. That kind of thing. You can tell somebody is a member of the House of El because their drag name ends in ‘El’.”

Lena nodded in understanding. “Smash CoronEL.”

“Yeah. Holly MackerEL. LaGuardia BEl.”

“Oh, so Holly, LaGuardia, and you are going to Metropolis to march in the parade with other members of the House of El?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, maybe I’ll see you there,” Lena said as Kara’s brows knotted in confusion. “I’m from Metropolis! They asked me and the other Senator from NY to come march…”

Kara felt her heart rate quicken. She would love to see Lena at pride. “I definitely hope to see you there.”

\--

When Lena arrived at the giant parking lot of floats, cars, and rainbows, she realized that despite the fact that she had been to many Pride Parades before, she had never appreciated how much organization went into it. How the jumble of people and vehicles were going to arrange into an ordered parade was something Lena did not want to be in charge of. Luckily, all she had to do was find her ride. Which should be in zone 7… if she only knew where that was. 

She wandered through the marching bands, dykes on bikes, elaborate floats from Metropolis’ gay bars, until she finally found her car. It helped that the black convertible had a giant sign on the side with her name on it. A few people smiled at her at she passed, recognizing her face from the election.

As she dropped her purse into the back seat of the car, she looked up to see a huge “House of El” on the back of the float directly ahead of her in line. She rolled her eyes at her luck. Of course Smash would be dancing in front of her for the entire parade. She casually leaned against the side of the car and waited for Smash to notice who was behind them.

She spotted Smash smiling and talking to Holly, LaGuardia, and a queen she had never seen before. Holly actually eyed Lena first, and elbowed Smash hard in the ribs, followed by a not so subtle point in Lena’s direction. Smash’s affronted look after being elbowed quickly morphed into a smile when he caught Lena’s eyes.

Due to the hot summer weather, he had already lost his suit jacket, with his sleeves rolled up and tie slightly loosened. When he reached Lena, he greeted her with a tip of his hat. “Ma’am.”

_God. People should wear more hats. _Lena thought to herself. Still leaning on the car, she tried to remain as casual as possible. “Hey, Smash.”__

__“I knew you were excited to see more of the House of El, but organizing it so you follow us the whole parade, that’s pretty dedicated.”_ _

__Lena arched a brow in disbelief. “Oh, I’m pretty sure you were the one that requested it. You wanted to show off your dance moves, remember?”_ _

__Smash just smiled in response. He glanced at Lena’s ride and remarked, “Nice car.”_ _

__“Mmm. It’s a little bit less elaborate than your float…” Lena said as she eyed the giant float covered in paper fringe that started in red and transitioned through the rainbow through the back of the float. There were multiple sparkly platforms for the queens to stand up on and what looked like a very powerful speaker system._ _

__“Well, I’m not sure if that’s the look the Senator’s office is aiming for.”_ _

__“That’s true. We were going for a more dignified appearance… but someone’s got to bring the party.” Lena laughed as she saw Holly start to grind against LaGuardia as LaGuardia completely ignored the shorter queen’s moves.  
Just then, the third queen that Smash had been talking to yelled for everyone to come together. _ _

__Smash gave Lena a regretful look. “Sorry, I got to go… are you doing anything after the parade?”_ _

__“No…”_ _

__“Come to Club 96! They helped sponsor our float so we are there all night. But there shouldn’t be much for us to do after we get introduced.”_ _

__Going to a gay club without her wing woman wasn’t necessarily high on Lena’s to do list while back in Metropolis. Smash must have sensed her hesitation because he pleaded again. “Please! We can finally dance together?”_ _

__Lena just smiled as Smash ran back to his float, but she already knew there was no escaping hanging out with the entire House of El tonight._ _

__\--_ _

__“We want to make sure that we have people interacting with the crowd on each side and for the entire run of the parade…” Margo really knew how to take the fun out of Pride. Smash had heard this speech before and was having trouble focusing in on his cousin when he could be staring at Lena Luthor._ _

__Lena, who was wearing an understated pleated rainbow skirt, a v-neck blouse and large, dark sunglasses that obscured her face. Her red lipstick seemed a shade brighter today, and only accentuated the slight pout on her lips as she read something on her phone. The Metropolis Parade had always been one of Smash’s favorite things to do in drag, but now he could not wait until it was over and he was (hopefully) sitting with her in a dim booth at Club 96. How was he supposed to wave and smile at the crowd  
when he knew that she was following his float-_ _

__“Smash.” At the sound of his name, Smash’s attention jumped back to Margo who had apparently been talking this entire time. “Got it?”_ _

__“Ahhh… yep. Got it.” Smash had no idea what important information he missed, but he could guess at the take aways. Smile. Wave. Don’t fall off the float._ _

__As the crowd dispersed to put the final touches on their outfits, Margo came over to check in on her cousin. “Hey, you okay? You seem really distracted…” Margo’s look of concern shown through her perfect make up and 1950’s housewife hair._ _

__Smash reached up to adjust his glasses, fumbled with the empty air in front of his eyes before reaching his hat brim. “Of course. Sorry, I’ve just heard the pep talk before.”_ _

__Margo frowned a little. “It seemed more like you had more important things to pay attention to. Like a certain senator who you recently started working with?”_ _

__Smash felt his cheeks flush. “Yeah, I mean, she’s great. I invited her to the club later.”_ _

__Margo let out a small sigh and Smash rolled his eyes. His older cousin always though she knew best._ _

__“Look, I don’t know much about Lena… but I do know about Lex. We were friends… I thought real friends... until we weren’t.”_ _

__Smash crossed his arms. “Lena isn’t Lex.”_ _

__“No. But I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Margo paused. “I wish somebody had warned me about Lex, okay? Just keep it in mind.”_ _

__Smash shook his head as he walked to the float. He was tired of being the only one to believe that you could be different than your family. He hopped up the side and sat down with a huff._ _

__\--_ _

__The parking lot slowly began to clear out as the parade officially got underway. Lena eyed Smash as he looked to have a serious talk with a queen who she assumed was the famous Margo Steel. Margo was cute and sweet where Smash was sexy and confident. Her midcentury, belted, cherry red dress, saddle shoes, and rainbow handkerchief made Lena want to gag, but Lena guessed if you started a drag house whose mission was to spread good will maybe a good, clean housewife look was appropriate._ _

__As the House of El got closer to pulling out, the drag queens got ready, spreading to the sides of the float, with some doing a few light stretches. Lena was just going to smile and wave during the parade, but could not wait to see what the House of El had planned. Eventually the float in front her started moving, the speakers were flipped on, and Smash turned to give her a wink before they were off._ _

__Her driver started the engine next and she jolted forward to join the parade. She turned from side to side, trying to keep her wave friendly, rather than royal, but most of the crowd’s attention was captured by the gyrating queens and Smash’s commentary a few feet ahead of her. She didn’t blame the crowd, really. Smash invited everyone to the after party at Club 96, members of the House of El were tossing out copious amounts of condoms and candy, and everyone was dancing to the thumping club music._ _

___More like hope, help, and condoms for all. _Lena thought to herself as more were tossed into the crowd. _Eh, it was probably a good idea for Pride… Plus, they were advertising a local free STI clinic on the packaging. ______ _

______The parade snaked through the downtown streets of Metropolis that Lena hadn’t realized how much she missed after the whirlwind move to National City. She was happy to see her favorite lunch place with a giant rainbow flag on display showing its solidarity with the cause. There were banners hanging from most of the awnings on the parade route. She loved seeing all of the people that showed up for the parade- baby gays that looked star struck at the openness of those around them; straight couples who brought their kids with them trying to raise them in a more accepting and colorful world; pairs of grandma aged lesbians sporting the same cargo pants, polos, and haircuts; college kids in unicorn onesies. There were only a few people who looked unhappy to be at the parade, but they were holding signs that talked about burning in hell so she figured they deserved whatever miserable feelings came their way._ _ _ _ _ _

______As the parade neared its final turn, the crowd swelled, cheers giving life to the tired parade participants. With the hot sun and Lena’s constant, plastered smile, Lena was more than ready to crawl out of the convertible to rest before the rest of the night._ _ _ _ _ _

______\--_ _ _ _ _ _

______After a quick round of pizzas, the House of El piled into the back of the pick up truck that towed their float to the small alleyway behind Club 96. Smash tried to shake the fatigue off. It had already been a long day, but at least it was coming to close soon. A small amount of strutting around was left and then he would finally (hopefully) have time to spend with Lena. As he looked around, the rest of the girls looked pretty tired, too. Regardless, he had no doubts they would rally when needed._ _ _ _ _ _

______When they finally pulled in, their parade float filled the entire outdoor space behind the bar. They hopped out of the truck bed to maneuver the float into it’s cramped parking space. The late summer sun had finally started to set and welcomed slightly cooler air floated around them. They sipped on bottles of water, watched the blue sky darken above the city, as the waited for Perry to usher them inside._ _ _ _ _ _

______The back door swung open and Smash heard the end of their introduction over the buzzing crowd._ _ _ _ _ _

______“…welcome back to our favorite kings and queens… the House of EL!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______He let Margo take the lead, but followed soon after, taking off his hat and raising it to the crowd. His eyes traveled around the room, looking for one emerald green set in particular, finally spotting them off to the corner._ _ _ _ _ _

______He almost tripped over his newly shined oxfords when he saw Lena standing in the corner. Her hair was down framing her face and the redness of her lipstick shown across the room in the dimly lit club. Was it just him or was her vneck plunging deeper than before? She was breathtaking. And Smash had forgotten how to breath._ _ _ _ _ _

______And walk, apparently._ _ _ _ _ _

______He felt a sharp shove on his back and noticed Margo miles ahead of him. His eyebrows shot up as he forced his gaze to wander around the room to make up for his previously pinpointed attention. As he chanced a return glance at Lena, her raised eyebrow and smirk let him know his staring did not go unnoticed. He ran his fingertips over the brim of his hat as he struck a pose at the front of the club with all of the other queens. Mother Margo gave a quick speech thanking the support of Club 96, advertising the local free clinic, and letting people know of a few performances coming up in both Metropolis and National City from House of El members. After which they were finally off to mingle in the crowd._ _ _ _ _ _

______While Smash tried to make his way over to Lena, he had to pass through an obstacle course of fans- posing for photo ops, signing some House of El merchandise, and offers for drinks. After successfully negotiating the gauntlet, he was awarded with time, time away from work, with Lena._ _ _ _ _ _

______She was leaning (why so much sexy leaning?) with her legs crossed against a high top table, nursing what looked like a whiskey._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m glad you came!” Smash said as he adjusted his hat._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ah, well, I couldn’t miss the end of the show after watching the House of El all afternoon.” Lena replied, twirling the small straw in her drink._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We are very entertaining.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Plus, I was promised a dance.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hmmm, how about-“ Smash started to say before he was rudely interrupted by a very familiar voice._ _ _ _ _ _

______“SMASH!” Margo said as she clapped Smash on the back. “Are you going to hang out in the corner this whole night?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Smash let out a huff of frustration. He had literally said two sentences with Lena before his cousin had to come over, presumably to save him from the big bad Luthors._ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena crossed her arms as she watched the two interact._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Margo, have you met Lena? Lena, this is my cousin, Margo Steel.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena shook hands with Margo, and despite Margo’s best protective sibling impression, Lena did not look concerned in the slightest._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Nice to meet the famous Lena Luthor!” Margo said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Likewise.” Lena returned, tone even and controlled._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You know I used to know your brother…” Margo trailed off._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hm. Lucky.” She continued answering Smash’s questioning gaze. “That you don’t know him anymore.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena continued to stare at Margo, waiting for an answer and Smash watched as his cousin seemed completely at a loss for words. Whatever she expected out of the younger Luthor was not what was happening currently. When it became apparent that no winner would come from the staring contest and Margo’s visit wasn’t going to be short lived, Smash broke the silence. “Well, do you want to join us?” and gestured to the empty high top. His nose scrunched as he noticed a silent sigh escape Lena._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nonetheless, both ladies sat down at the booth. Luckily, both Holly and LaGuardia joined in, adding a needed buffer to the situation, and soon Smash found himself listening to everyone explain how they had gotten into drag._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I guess I always felt like an outsider in Smallville. I mean, I always loved my parents… but I just knew I was different. They were always supportive when I came out… but they didn’t seem to know what to do with the fact that I liked wearing tights and heels.” Margo shrugged as she explained._ _ _ _ _ _

______“They were just worried about you. They sent me to protect you on one of your first nights of drag.” Smash laughed as Margo rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how they thought that would help the situation. And they probably didn’t expect me to join in the festivities… but I look great in a suit.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Margo couldn’t help by nod in agreement. “Do you remember my mom’s expression when we both came home? She had no idea what to say!” Margo was laughing so hard, she had to carefully dab the corner of her eyes to stop the tears from ruining her precise makeup._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It was a whole minute of silence and then ‘Well, did you have fun?’”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“And the House of El was born!” Margo raised her glass._ _ _ _ _ _

______Shouts of “House of El!” reverberated around Lena as glasses clinked together._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We used to have pretty high standards… but I don’t know about the riff raff from National City.” Margo kept her face even as she shook her head in disappointment at both Holly and LaGuardia._ _ _ _ _ _

______Holly and LaGuardia smiled and yelled “The New Generation!” as they clinked glasses, headless of the house mother._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You’re just jealous your geriatric hips can’t keep up” LaGuardia smirked as she stood and effortlessly grabbed Holly’s hand to dance while roughly bumping Margo with her butt._ _ _ _ _ _

______Margo gave an exaggerated exasperated sigh but didn’t hide her smile. “They are yours, not mine,” she said to Smash, crossing her arms._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I know. I love them. And they always know the right thing to do.” He turned to Lena and offered his hand. “May I have this dance?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______A wave of excitement ran through Smash as Lena smiled and let herself be led to the crowded dance floor. Soon they were in a throng of bodies, all bouncing in time with the beat. He pulled Lena closer and felt warmth blossom wherever they touched. Smash danced with reckless abandon, letting the joy overtake whatever self-consciousness he felt. Lena was slightly more restrained, but was still clearly enjoying herself, smiling and laughing as Smash tried out his classic moves._ _ _ _ _ _

______When the music slowed, Lena wrapped her arms around Smash’s shoulders and he let his hands settle in the small of her back. The sides of their faces were pressed lightly together, Lena’s heels making up for most of their height difference. As they swayed from side to side, their bodies slotting closer and closer together, Smash marveled at how perfectly they fit together. He kept getting whiffs of Lena’s botanical hair shampoo as they slowly turned and he wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through her hair while their lips met. Instead, he took a deep breath, breathing in the familiar scent, and nuzzled his cheek closer. A small breath escaped Lena’s lips, tickling Smash’s cheek as his thumb ran small circles on her back. He could feel the heat rising as his cheeks flushed, hoping that Lena’s were doing the same._ _ _ _ _ _

______When the beat dropped for the next song, Lena leaned in and whispered over the noise “Want to go get some air?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Smash nodded enthusiastically as he took her hand and led her to the back entrance. Ignoring the fire alarm signs, he pushed the door open, and they were met with a rush of warm air, still thick and humid after the summer day. The door closed lightly behind them and they made their way around the float looking for somewhere to sit. The night felt peaceful despite the muted music and occasional street noise after the loud club and it took a second for Smash’s ears to adjust._ _ _ _ _ _

______When they got to the other side of the discarded Pride Float, they were completely hidden from the back of the club. Smash turned to ask Lena if this was an okay place to get some air, but before he opened his mouth he was accosted by Lena’s lips. Lena pushed him roughly against the float, buckling his knees. As he sat down, she climbed on top of him, the sounds of the crinkling paper cutting through the heavy air. If Smash was surprised by the kiss, he certainly didn’t show it, placing his hands on the back of Lena’s head, pulling her closer and deepening the connection._ _ _ _ _ _

______As their tongues began to hungrily explore each other’s mouths, Lena pulled away quickly, as if her consciousness had just gained control of her involuntary movements. “Is this okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Smash nodded enthusiastically before putting his hat on Lena’s head and leaning in again. It didn’t take long for the kiss to grow, as eager hands rubbed up and down the fabric separating their bodies. Smash left a trail of kisses down Lena’s angled jaw as hands attempted to free her blouse from her skirt. Lena leaned her head back, highlighting her neck, as Smash’s mouth traveled down. As Lena arched back, Smash twirled them around a half rotation, pressing Lena’s back against the float._ _ _ _ _ _

______As his hands finally made their way up smooth skin, he checked in, “are you okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena wordlessly replied by taking Smash’s hands and pressing them against her bra as she moaned into his mouth. Already, Lena’s nipples were pebbled beneath Smash’s sure fingers and Smash could feel himself getting wet. Their legs were intertwined and as Smash raised his knee, he could feel Lena’s appreciation as she rhythmically pressed herself against it._ _ _ _ _ _

______Continuing his ministrations under Lena’s bra with one hand, he traveled down Lena’s curves to the bottom of her skirt with the other. As he slowly started to ruck up her skirt, he gave her a questioning look._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Oh my god, Kara. Yes.” Lena responded breathily, as Smash kissed his way down her body. With her skirt up, he used both hands to gently slide down her lacy underwear, continuing to kiss the newly exposed skin. Lena’s back arched as she fell back onto her elbows, hat tipping down obscuring her closed eyes when Smash’s lips reached their destination. Lena buried her hands in Smash’s short hair, encouraging the quick sweeps of his tongue, until she collapsed fully onto the float._ _ _ _ _ _

______As Smash kissed his way back up Lena’s limp and satisfied body finally making it to her lips, he was surprised when she aggressively flipped him on his back, intentions clear. Her hands nimbly undid his belt buckle and pants, while their lips remained locked. She sent a teasing finger under the waist band and Smash’s hips unconsciously bucked up in response._ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena slowly removed her hand with a smile as Smash responded with a frustrated sigh. He pleaded a quiet “Leeee-na” drawing out her name, making it sound like more than just two syllables. He already knew the wetness she would find and couldn’t wait until her hand was dipping into it._ _ _ _ _ _

______While gently sucking on Smash’s neck, Lena pulled pants and underwear down in one motion. The crinkly paper of the float was pressing into his bare skin as Lena made circles and swoops until plunging into Smash. One of his hands rubbed up and down the back of Lena’s dress, while the other searched madly for something to hold onto, desperately ripping up rainbow slivers of confetti off of the float._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nonsensical jibberish flew out of Smash’s mouth directly into Lena’s as he felt himself contracting around her. “That was… that was-“_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Shhhhh!” Lena cut off the rambling by placing her hand over his mouth and making herself as flat as possible on top of the drag king._ _ _ _ _ _

______Once he rejoined his senses, he understood why. The music from the club was suddenly louder, invading their private bubble._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No, I don’t see anybody out here…” he heard LaGuardia say before the door swung shut, muting the music once again._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Ugh. Do you think they are missing us?” Smash asked covering his face with his hand._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes. I’m fairly certain they realized we snuck off somewhere.” Lena said as she collapsed on the float beside Smash._ _ _ _ _ _

______Smash propped himself up on an elbow to try to get a clearly view of Lena’s face. In the moonlight he couldn’t make out her expression. “Are you okay? I… I usually don’t…” he struggled, searching for the right description of the situation._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Have sex on a pride float?” Lena deadpanned._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena let out a snort. “Me either.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Smash waited a beat before responding. “It was fun, though?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena let out a laugh as turned towards Smash, pressing their lips together again. Smash could feel her lips upturn into a smile and it erased his unease. “Very fun.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Enough fun to do again sometime?” Smash asked hopefully._ _ _ _ _ _

______Lena gave Smash another quick kiss. “Enough fun to do again sometime.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Not on a parade float?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Maybe once more on a parade float…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______\--_ _ _ _ _ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up!

Lena found herself particularly excited to head into work on Monday morning. Usually after flying in late from Metropolis, she would have to have multiple cups of coffee to prepare her for the day. After Pride, though, she shot awake with the first beep of the alarm and used her extra time to make sure her impeccable suit looked impeccable on. Not that she was trying to impress anybody. No, Lena Luthor didn’t need to waste her effort on trying to impress anybody… she told herself as she dabbed her lipstick and gave herself one last once over in the mirror before heading into work.

It hadn’t taken Sam long to figure out that something had happened at Pride when they were texting on Sunday. But no amount of prodding would make Lena divulge the sordid details of the night on the float. Lena could still hear the light crinkle of paper mixed with the soft breathy moans…. She shook her head. She was going to work. It was Monday. This was the very reason she had fought against her attraction to Kara. If she could just make sure that whatever was going on with Kara didn’t distract her from representing New Yorkers then maybe she could have her cake and eat it to. On a pride float… with a hat on.

\--

“KEIRA!”

Kara sighed as she slid her chair back from her desk and approached her boss’s office. She tentatively opened the door and poked her head in. “Yes, Ms. Grant?”

“Why don’t I have the full report on senate bill 526 in my hand right now?” Cat brought her empty hands together and peered questioningly at her staffer.

“Because it hasn’t been released yet?” Kara raised her eyebrows apologetically.

“Is there a reason you phrased that as a question? Because last I checked it is your job to know these things.”

Kara’s lips pressed together as she resolutely kept her eyes from rolling. “It hasn’t been released yet.”

“Ugh. Go find something useful to do.”

Kara was relatively sure Ms. Grant would not qualify going to ask Lena Luthor out on an official date as something useful. Nonetheless, she struck out for the other senator’s office.

Eve and Jess were both deep in stacks of paperwork when Kara entered. “Hi guys. I’m here to see Ms. Luthor?”

Jess looked up and smiled. She buzzed Lena and after getting confirmation, let Kara into the office.

Kara poked her head through the door and couldn’t help but smile at Lena. She hadn’t seen her since Pride and looking back that night seemed like a dream. A wonderful, amazing dream. But a dream nonetheless. 

“Hi Ms. Luthor.” Kara said as she gently closed the door behind her.

“Ms. Danvers.” Lena responded with a smirk. “Please, have a seat.” Lena pointed to the comfy chairs positioned in the front of her desk. “Are you here on official business or…?”

“Oh, no. I got kicked out of Cat’s office.” Kara laughed like it was a normal occurrence. “Anyways, I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you made it back to National City okay.”

“Of course. It was an easy flight back no problems. Though, I have to admit I do miss Metropolis a little more now.”

“Oh really?” Kara ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to push down the blush that was threatening to appear at nothing more that the discussion of the location of the pride parade, not even what happened afterwards.

Lena lightly tapped the pen she was holding against the desk. “Yeah. But maybe it won’t be so bad since you’re here.” 

As Lena leaned slightly forward onto her elbows, Kara tried to keep her eyes on Lena’s face instead of wandering down to the tight pull of the buttons on her white shirt.

“Ahahaha,” Kara nervously chuckled. She suddenly wished she knew how to more effectively flirt. She should call Alex and ask for pointers. 

“So you just wanted to check in?”

“Oh! And… and to see if maybe you wanted to get dinner with me on Saturday?” After stumbling over the beginning, Kara rushed through the rest in a slurry of words that she hoped Lena could still understand. 

Lena’s eyebrow arched and she tilted her head to the side. “An official date?” Lena asked.

“Yes….?” Wasn’t that implied? Kara had thought she was on the same page with Lena after the weekend, but the same old fears took hold of her again. Maybe Lena was only interested in Smash. Pride was a one-time thing, fueled by alcohol and escaping from their life in the capital. Only she didn’t want it to be a one-time thing. She wanted it to be the beginning of something.

Lena smirked as Kara’s unease. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Relief washed over Kara. “Oh great! I can pick you up at 7-“ she started, only to be cut off by her cell phone buzzing. She looked apologetically at Lena and checked the message from Nia.

-cat says she knows you aren’t being useful  
-you should probably get back asap

Kara rolled her eyes yet again. “Apparently I’m needed with Cat. But I’ll see you Saturday? Well, probably before, but definitely then… right?”

Lena smiled again. “Definitely.”

\--

Now that Lena wasn’t purposely avoiding Kara, she had somehow managed to miss her the whole week. At least they had definite plans for a first date. It was Thursday morning when Eve handed her a plain looking manila envelope. For no specific reason, Lena was filled with unease as she thanked her aide and brought the package into her office. Once she was alone, she peeled back the seal with slightly shaky fingers and poured out the contents onto her desk.

A letter spilled out with countless glossy photos. She glanced at the photos- all of her and Kara before unfolding the letter. Lena at once recognized Lex’s cursive handwriting.

Dear Lena,  
I wish I could say it wasn’t personal, but it is. What did you expect? You betrayed the Luthors first: moving away to National City, voting against the interests of LuthorCorp, refusing to heed reason when I called. Of course, I was going to have you followed.  
All I can say it I would hate for these to fall into the wrong hands. I have no idea what it would do to your polls, but I’m pretty sure banging a drag king who is in the pocket of the horrifying Cat Grant was not what they elected you to do. It would be such a shame for it to hurt your (and Cat’s…) chances of reelection.  
Don’t worry, I have extra copies. Look forward to catching up soon.  
Love always,  
Lex

Lena crumbled the letter and therapeutically launched it across her office, scoring two points after it banked off the couch and fell into the corner, hidden beneath the small side table. She sorted through the photos- photos of her and Kara smiling and talking at the coffee shop; short, subtle arm touches suspended in time showing their affection while walking through the halls of the Capitol; photos of them talking before the parade; and damning images of dancing at the club with their bodies pressed against one another. She shuffled to the end and was relieved to find none on the Pride float. Her relief was short lived as she berated herself for being so stupid. 

She was public office now and all of her actions were up for public debate, whether or not her brother expedited the process. How could she be stupid as having sex in a public place? In a small alleyway behind a bar?! 

Well, the photos weren’t great, but they honestly weren’t as bad as they could be. She flipped through them again and couldn’t believe how legitimately happy she looked in all of them. Her dumb happy smile paraded through each photo. She looked like a lovesick puppy. Ugh no wonder Lex found out about her inappropriate work feelings. She’s been strutting around with heart eyes for weeks.

There was a sharp knock on the door and she jammed the photos beneath some paperwork in her bottom desk drawer. Something to be dealt with at another time.

Lena glanced to make sure the crumpled-up letter from Lex was fully hidden before responding, “Come in.”

Jess poked her head in, “Just wanted to let you know there’s been a quick change in your schedule for today- the commerce, justice, and science subcommittee hearing was moved one hour later and a short meeting with one of your constituents was added.”

Lena nodded in understanding and peered at Jess who remained still in the doorway. 

"Was there something else?"

"Have you been following the protests about the Confederate statues in National City?" Jess asked, eyebrows drawn together.

"Yes?" Lena answered tentatively. On the news last night she had seen two groups surrounding a statue near the capitol of a Confederate soldier, almost coming to blows over whether or not it should be removed based on the racist ideals that it was first erected for versus the need to honor the historical roots of the country, no matter how bleak. This issue was relatively new to Lena, while she had heard about it in Metropolis, there were no Confederate statues there. Until she moved to National City, it was something that the other half of the country was grappling with. Now, she realized it was something she was going to have to deal with.

"Well, as some statues are being forcibly removed and Southern states are passing bills that make it illegal to remove historical statues in response, people are calling on the federal government to get involved. We've had more and more calls and messages from your constituents about their opinions. I've been keeping track of them, but I have some saved if you would like to hear them."

The way Jess seemed to be dancing around what she really wanted to say, Lena could only guess what kind of emotional messages that had been left for her. She generally tried to listen to her constituents before making her final decision on policies but she couldn't think of anything that would make her want to protect these statues that were raised in an effort to maintain white supremacy 50 years after the southern states lost the civil war. No wonder people were demanding they were removed.

"Of course. Add it in whenever there is time."

When Jess closed the door, Lena let her head fall into her hands. Racist people feeling free to show their true colors, her own brother blackmailing her about her burgeoning relationship with someone who was really great but doing something that not everybody accepts. The world was looking more and more grim.

\--

Kara had finally tracked down all of the information Cat wanted and was more than ready for a weekend away from her overbearing boss. As she was walking out of the office on Friday afternoon, she saw a very familiar raven-haired woman striding with purpose a few feet ahead of her.

“Hey! Lena!” Kara called out, speed walking to catch up with the senator.

Lena turned, and something flashed through her eyes that Kara couldn’t quite place before she seemed to settle into her public smile. 

A look of confusion clouded Kara’s face underneath her glasses. “How are you?”

Lena sighed before saying, “Okay, I guess. Happy it’s Friday. What about you?”

Kara had no idea what was bothering Lena but also figured the parking lot outside their office building wasn’t the best place to get into it. “Same. I’m excited for tomorrow!” Kara’s eyes searched Lena’s face, hoping for a glimmer of enthusiasm about the impending date.

Lena’s eyes narrowed before nodding. “Yes, me too.” 

Okay. Kara’s trepidation was blossoming into full blown worry. Not only did it appear that Lena had forgotten their date for a second but her professional tone conveyed as much delight as being told to eat her vegetables before dessert. “We are still on for tomorrow night?” Kara asked trying to keep her voice neutral. She had been looking forward to their date more than she cared to admit and last they talked it seemed like Lena was just as excited. She had no idea what had changed between then and now.

“Of course.” Lena gave Kara’s hand a quick squeeze and said “I’ll see you then,” before she turned down a different row of cars to find her ride home.

Kara watched her recede wondering what she could do to fix whatever happened before her phone rang. Winn popped up on the caller ID and she swiped her thumb to accept before bringing it to her ear. “Hey Winn.” Her worry about Lena must have shown through because Winn seemed less than pleased with her unenthusiastic greeting.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

Kara let out a huff, then purposely tried to make her voice happier. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to make sure we had everything for tonight?”

“Yeah, yeah. Meet you there at 3AM?”

“Yep. See you then!”

It was a long wait until 3AM, but they had decided that with all of the protests around the statues, the later they went the more likely they could finish their project before anybody found them. She packed her bag with everything she needed and went to sleep early to take a nap before heading out. Years of drag had trained her for odd hours of work but 3AM was still a time she did not enjoy being awake at. She groaned when her alarm went off but quickly got dressed in as inconspicuous clothes as she could and sleepily joined James and Winn at a statue of Robert E Lee a few blocks from the Capitol. 

They were relieved to see nobody around, and make quick work of setting out paints and clothes. After years of practice, it only took a few minutes to completely transform the statue of the grizzled confederate soldier into a less intimidating, and quite pretty if you asked Kara, woman. Her bustled dress was period appropriate and the giant sun hat covered the much smaller hat the general was wearing. The look of the high heels jammed onto his boots made Kara laugh, but it was refreshing to see a female in a giant dress riding a horse astride rather than sidesaddle. They couldn’t do much with the beard without permanently damaging the statue- Kara hoped it didn’t affect the overall vibe. She blew the dragged general a kiss before racing away with her two favorite partners in crime, paint cans clattering in her bag without the fabric of the large dress to pillow the clanks.

She felt like she had just laid her head back down on her pillow when her phone started buzzing. She silenced it with a quick push, without even opening her eyes. The buzzing started again immediately and she sleepily peered out from heavy eyelids to see who was calling her so early on a Saturday. She grimaced when her sister’s name popped up.

“Alex. It’s 5:30AM. On a Saturday.” Her voice was groggily and was unsure if Alex actually understood her.

A barely controlled whisper answered her, and despite the low decibel, it was seeping in frustration. “KARA! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?”

Kara fell back onto her pillow. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I’ve put up with all of your stunts in the past BUT DAMAGING A HISTORICAL STATUE-“

“HISTORICAL? Please.”

“Look, I know you think they should be removed, but you can’t just take matters into your own hands and PERMANENTLY-“

Kara interrupted with a huff. “Nothing is permanent, Alex.”

“You painted lipstick-“

“Eh, it’ll come off with a good pressure wash…”

“You glued the clothes-“

“I mean that glues not forever, you just have to know how to get it off metal…”

“I AM MORALLY OBLIGATED TO TRACK DOWN WHO DID THIS AND I CAN’T HIDE THE FACT THAT I KNOW EXACTLY WHO IS BEHIND IT!”

“Oh you’re going to play your cop card now? Look, Alex, I know you’re worried about me, but I’m ready to embrace the consequences. It’s not like I tore down the statue. Just a little something to get people talking about it and see how easily monuments can change their meaning…”

Kara could hear the smack of Alex’s hand on her face in exacerbation. “I cannot believe this is happening. Wait until I tell mom…”

“Don’t tell Eliza!”

“I thought you were ready for your consequences?”

“I meant JAIL.”

“Fine. I’ll be over to arrest you in a few hours…”

“Not today! Does tomorrow work?” Kara asked for the first time pleading.

“What do you have a hot date tonight?”

“I do actually.”

“Ohmygod Kara! Are you finally going out with Lena?”

“Can we not do this right now Alex?”

Kara could barely make out the mumbling through her phone “whyonEARTHwouldyoupullaSTUNTwhenyouhaveadatewiththeHOTTEST….”

“Okay. Okay. I get it. I know I put you in a hard spot but it’ll be okay. Whatever happens.”

“Ugh you’re such an IDIOT-“ CLICK and the phone was dead.

All in all that could have gone worse, Kara thought to herself.

\--

Lena was putting the last touches on her make up while the top of the hour news streamed from her phone. A soothing, impassive voice came on to cover the city’s local stories.

“The statue of Robert E. Lee was vandalized amidst weeks of protests calling for the removal of all confederate statues from the Capital City. No one has taken ownership of the acts that occurred sometime in the early morning hours and included dressing the prestigious Confederate General in a dress and painting his face. Professional restoration is planned to begin on Monday, as experts have not been able to clear a path to the statue amid protestors.”

Lena tried to hold back her smile as she puckered putting the final touches on her make up. She had seen photos of the statue all over social media this morning and it looked like the same work as the Capitol lawn toileters from a few weeks back. She saw the same primary colored pentagon painted on the general’s ankle above his quite fetching strappy heels. She wasn’t exactly sure why everyone was so up in arms about what was clearly a prank, but there was something about questioning a historical figures “manhood” that really seemed to rile up conservatives. The outrage over the queer defacement had really brought out a lovely intersection of racism and transphobia in those that claimed the statues were simply a necessary reminder of the war over states rights. Lena generally tried to stay away from internet trolls, but occasionally the more outrageous things they said would come across her feed and she, quite simply, could not believe people would actually say the things they were saying. She couldn’t help but think they were only hurting themselves with the terrible epithets they were using. It would be hard to continue to claim the statues were only a historical reminder when the supporters were throwing around racist terms.

Regardless, she had the rest of the weekend to craft a response to the situation. Tonight, she had other things to worry about. Like she was finally going on a date with Kara… but was she going to tell her about Lex? Was she going to let Lex’s clear blackmail change her mind about how she voted on the things he cared about? She knew the Green New Deal wouldn’t be brought to a vote this session, not with Sir Turtle McCorkle leading… but she just didn’t think she could betray the cause for trying to make her country do its part to control climate change even if it meant outing Kara as a drag king.

Ugh. She knew her brother was up to sleazy, underhanded political things, but she had no idea he would actually stoop to illegal blackmail just to try to control her. 

She glanced at the clock. 

Yikes! How had 15 minutes passed? She slipped on her own pair of fetching strappy heels, grabbed a clutch from her closet, shoved in whatever random things she could fit, and made a beeline for the front of her apartment right as she heard the buzzer.

She held down the answer button and heard her doorman’s voice over the speaker. “Ms. Luthor? A Ms. Danver’s here to see you.”

“Tell her I’ll be right down!”

She grabbed her keys off the hook, yep probably need those, and took a deep calming breath before walking restrained to the elevator. She gave herself a quick peptalk as the elevator doors shut in front of her.

She could do this. She had been on dates before. Usually she had sex afterwards instead of before, but what had happened happened. She just needed to put all of her other concerns away for the night and focus on the here and now. Have a good time, get to know somebody new, don’t act stupid…

Ding!

The doors opened to the lobby and she immediately spotted Kara, clearly in the middle of a story, hands gesturing, as her doorman laughed out loud at whatever her date was saying. Lena took a second to drink in Kara’s appearance. Despite the deep blue suit she was wearing, the feminine cut and vaguely floral pattern on her shirt made for a completely different appearance than Smash. With her short hair swept to the side, she looked beautiful and handsome and Lena had to just stare.

Eventually, she finished whatever she was telling Bill about and finally noticed Lena just a few steps away from the elevator. Kara’s breath seemed to catch for a second before a small smile spread over her face and she ran her fingers through her hair. Lena felt validated in her decision to wear her favorite emerald green dress with a plunging neckline. It clearly was having some effect on Kara.

Lena walked over to her awestruck date. Even Bill looked a little taken aback. Maybe she should wear her hair up like this more often.

“Are you ready?” Lena asked the blonde.

Kara just nodded in response, forgetting to say goodbye to her new friend.

Bill held the door open for the ladies and ducked his head. “Ms. Luthor, Ms. Danvers. Have a good night!”

Kara led them to her car and Lena hopped in. When the engine came to life, the radio started blaring the local country station. Kara grimaced and quickly turned down the volume.

A laugh escaped Lena’s lips as she quirked an eyebrow at Kara. “You really love country music, huh?”

Kara looked confused for a second before understanding dawned on her, remembering the first time she met Lena, serenading her with Florida Georgia Line. “Oh, no. I mean, I like it. I like singing it as Smash because I can usually transpose it to my register and it still sounds good. But, really I just like listening to it in the summer. It feels like the hot sun and eating watermelons and sitting on your front porch… you know?”

Lena gave the radio a skeptical look as the twang amped up a notch as somebody shredded a solo on the slide guitar. “Uh, I’m not sure I do…”

“When I moved to Midvale, moved in with the Danvers, at first I thought the music they listened to was crazy. But now that they feel like home… country music feels like home, too, I guess.”

Lena thought about growing up with the Luthors. How it had never felt like home. “Well, I don’t think there was as much country in Metropolis as Midvale, but I can see it would be comforting if that’s what you grew up with.”

Kara slid her sunglasses over her eyes and started singing along, clearly going for jokingly sexy as her she started doing body rolls in the driver’s seat. Lena had no idea what the words were but that didn’t stop her from finding the show completely endearing. Maybe she should start listening to country. And wearing hats. And buy a pickup truck to drive out of the city with Kara.

Before long, they were pulling up to one of the classier French restaurants in the city and Lena was still trying to fit together the different pieces of Kara’s personality. She liked that she literally had no idea what was going to happen next whenever they were together. A snooty restaurant was definitely a place being a Luthor had prepared her for. She linked her arm in Kara’s as the strolled in together.

They were immediately shown to their table. Lena was unsure if it was because of Kara’s reservation or because she was recognized as a senator, but she accepted the absence of wait without complaint. The server introduced herself and left them to peruse the menu alone. 

Kara was the first to break the silence. “Cocktails? Wine? What do you think?”

Lena glanced back at the alcohol list before deciding. “Why don’t we share a bottle of wine?” Kara nodded and Lena continued. “Red? White?” Ugh. So many questions. This was beginning to feel like a regular first date. Despite feeling like she was really getting to know Kara at work, the formality of going out to dinner for the first time was bringing out of all the normal trepidation. In the comfort of Kara’s car, Lena had felt fine, but here in the restaurant it just felt more like a… first date. She didn’t think Kara would care if she ordered the wrong wine, but it was still something she did not want to mess up. Neither of them were feeling particularly confident in their actions in this new setting. It didn’t help that Lena couldn’t stop thinking about Lex continuing to have her followed. She subtly glanced around to see if she could spot anybody potentially sneaking photos of them.

“White? But nothing too sweet…” Kara started to answer, then tracking Lena’s wandering gaze, trailed off. “You okay?”

Lena quickly jumped her gaze back to Kara. So much for being subtle. “Yep. Yep, I’m fine.”

Kara’s eyes then started to wander, attempting to track what exactly Lena was looking for. “You sure?”

“Ah, well….” Lena tried to quickly weight her options. Tell Kara the truth, risk ruining their date before it started or continue to act completely weird and risk Lex outing the two of them in the future and then ruin whatever was going to happen. Neither of them sounded all that great.

“Does this have anything to do with why you were acting so down yesterday? Are you having second thoughts about us?” Kara’s brow furrowed with concern as she checked around the restaurant one last time. “Do you not want to be seen in public with me?”

“No, no it’s not that.” Lena reached under the table, placing her hand lightly on Kara’s thigh. “Well, it’s complicated. You know my brother, Lex?”

Kara nodded.

“Well, apparently he’s had me followed and he sent a not so subtle attempt at blackmail. It had pictures of us over the past few weeks…”

Kara’s eyes widen under her glasses. “Not… not of the float?”

“No, not that…” 

Kara’s shoulders fell in relief. 

Lean continued on “-but pretty much everything else. And he’s threatening not just to out our relationship, but also you as Cat’s aide and a drag king.” Lena looked up apologetically at Kara.

Kara’s nose scrunched up. “Well at least he doesn’t have pictures of our more… compromising positions?”

Lena half nodded. “Well, yes. But it’s still not great. I’m not sure I want our relationship to be completely public since I just started here. And does Cat know about Smash?”

“Does Cat know about Smash?” Kara asked more to herself. “Well she doesn’t even know my real name… but she has a talent for knowing more than you think she does.”

Now it was Lena’s turn to knot her eyebrows. Kara’s boss didn’t know her first name? Why would she continue to work for somebody who didn’t take the time to get to know their aides?

“Well, Cat’s my problem, I guess. Being a drag king isn’t a bad thing. I’m not ashamed of it.” Kara looked straight into Lena’s green eyes. “Are you ashamed of it? Is that why this is such a big deal?”

“No! Of course not.”

“Do you want to stop this because of Lex?” Kara asked.

“No! I don’t want to make my decisions based on him… I just wanted you to know that it was happening, I guess. And that going on dates with me means unfortunately getting involved with my family.”

Kara continued to look Lena in her eyes.

“The Luthors aren’t a great family to be entangled with.”

“Lena, how many times have I told you- you aren’t your family. We’ll figure something out.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really! Now let’s order something. I’m starving.”

\--

Despite the inauspicious beginnings of their date, Kara quite enjoyed their dinner. Not to her surprise, Lena had impeccable taste in wine and they finished off the bottle together over their multi course meal. After the initial first date nerves, Kara felt herself relax and settle down, able to talk to Lena about her family, what she missed about Midvale, truthfully how it was working for one of the most powerful people in the Senate, and attempting to explain why she would always pick potstickers over any of the delicious courses they had that night. She learned that Lena was also adopted, that she actually enjoyed eating kale, and that she was driven in her quest for perfection in almost all aspects of her life. 

After drawing out the meal as long as possible, including two different desserts accompanied by coffee, they finally split the bill and made their way out to the valet. Kara checked her watch. “You know, it’s still early… do you-“ she cleared her throat. Why was this always so hard? “Do you want to come by my place for a little while?”

Lena feigned a surprise gasp. “How forward, Ms. Danvers!”

As her car was pulled around, Lena laughed at the remarkable impression Kara was unconsciously performing of a deer in headlights. “I-but-ah-I mean…”

Lena put her arm on Kara’s to try to reset her embarrassed date. “I’m joking. I’d love to.”

Kara sighed with relief. She just wasn’t ready for the night to end. 

After seeing the lobby of Lena’s apartment, she was a little hesitant bringing the Senator up to her homey apartment, but she tried not be self-conscious as she unlocked the door.

Lena took a quick look around. “Aw, Kara. I love your place!” She quickly shuffled over to the pictures Kara had of her family on the fridge as Kara stood back and watched. It felt like she had really let her date into her life now.

“Ah, do you want something to drink? Whiskey?”

“Hmm. How did you know?”

Kara gave her a knowing smile. “Well we have been to the club together before.”

They sat down on Kara’s couch as they sipped Kara’s bourbon. It wasn’t long until Kara felt Lena’s eyes on her lips. She lost her train of thought as her eyes dipped down to Lena’s slightly moist red lips, her teeth lightly caught on her bottom lip. How was Kara so lucky that she convinced this woman to go on a date with her? She slowly leant forward and whispered, “Can I kiss you again?”

After giving a short nod, Lena closed the gap and their lips were interlocked again. Immediately Kara was taken back to a week ago, but this time felt less rushed, more deliberate… just as passionate. She felt Lena’s hot breath on her face as they broke for air, breathing heavily. Lena’s hands were exploring Kara’s hair and Kara pressed their foreheads together. “My bed… ah, my bed…” she gestured with her head towards the bedroom.

Lena gave her another quick kiss before raising up to stand, taking Kara’s hand in hers. Kara led the way to her bedroom and they fell onto the soft mattress together. No crinkling paper, no fear of interruptions, just her and Lena Luthor together. She gently pushed the senator down into the mattress, planting kisses as her hands rubbed along the sides of her dress, looking for an entrance. She ran her hand up Lena’s legs, pulling up the dress as Lena bent a leg up between Kara’s. Kara groaned in appreciation and their hips started to move, already in time together. Kara tried to unzip Lena’s dress, but couldn’t reach the apex of the zipper with all of her weight on top of the smaller woman.

Kara let out a frustrated sigh as Lena flipped over on top of the blond to give her better access. Once unzipped, Lena’s dress cascaded down and Lena shimmied out of it leaving a pool of emerald at the bottom of Kara’s bed. Kara was transfixed taking in Lena’s body, curves only slightly hidden by her bra and lacy underwear.

Lena brought their lips together again as she deftly unbuttoned Kara’s shirt and tugged it out of her pants. Kara propped herself up on her elbows as Lena slowly slipped Kara’s shoulders out of her shirt, hands reaching around her chest to unclasp her bra. Kara shrugged out of both her shirt and bra, sitting up slightly. Lena pushed her back down onto her back and began kissing down the toned, muscular abs, moving closer and closer to Kara’s underwear. Lena unbuckled Kara’s belt and loosened her pants and began to yank them down when she abruptly stopped.

Kara could feel something shift in the room but had no idea what had happened. She looked up at Lena’s face and it was ghostly pale. Pale and furious. 

Lena’s eyes were trained on a spot just above Kara’s right pelvis.

On a tattoo Kara had forgotten she had.

A tattoo of the crest of the House of El.

The same crest she drew on all of her political stunts.

What Lena had asked her about and she shrugged off so many weeks ago.

Before Kara could begin to explain, Lena had already jumped off the bed. She roughly grabbed her dress and began shoving it back on.

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it got too political in the middle... I've wanted Kara to drag a statue since I thought of the drag house of El!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team! We're starting to wrap up... probably 1 more chapter + an epilogue.

Lena could barely hear Kara’s muffled voice as she forced her stupid dress over her stupid head. _GodDAMNit why were clothes so HARD to put on when they were so EASY to take off moments ago._ With a swoosh, her ears finally broke free from the clingy fabric and Kara’s pleas were no longer muffled.

“Lena. Lena, I’m so sorry… I know you’re mad but-“

Lena glanced over at the blonde, kneeling on her bed, button up shirt still open and barely hanging onto to each of her shoulders. She tried to ignore the stupid muscular abs she had just been kissing as she trained a withering stare. Kara’s face transformed from apology to fear and Lena resumed dressing.

Kara gulped and tried to mount a defense, “Okay, okay, just let me explain…”

“Explain what, exactly?” Lena responded with a huff. Her voice was strained both with emotion and with the struggle to reach her zipper. “How you forgot to tell me about your criminal side job?”

“It’s not much a side job,” Kara said as she shrugged as she gave a hesitant smile, then ran her fingers through her short hair. “I mean I don’t get paid. It’s more of… a facet of the House of El…”

“I’m a US senator!” Lena let out exasperatedly.

Kara responded with her voice mostly even and volume controlled, “I’m aware…”

“You didn’t think that maybe it wouldn’t be great for a senator to be dating someone who pulls illegal political stunts?”

“No, I didn’t. Because I don’t do them to make you happy.”

Lena’s eyebrows rose dangerously. She was more than aware Kara did not do this for Lena’s benefit. The senator just needed Kara to look a little further into the future and see what a treacherous game she was playing. And the effects that it could have on everyone around her. “What about YOUR job, Kara?! You’re putting it all at risk. For what? Embarrassing a few white supremacists who think putting a war hero in a dress is the ultimate defamation of character?”

“To try to make a difference! I’m not just going to sit around and watch racist people grow more and more confident because our president is a dick! I’m not going to let people take away everyone’s right to feel comfortable in the bathroom of their choice! I don’t get to vote on the senate floor! I need to feel like I’m doing something.”

Lena bent over, one hand on the bed, as she slipped on each of her shoes. Suddenly she remembered her brother and brought her hand to her forehead. “Oh my god, Lex. He cannot find out about this. He could do so much damage…”

“I can’t believe you are only thinking about your political career right now! Before you knew it was me you said you liked the inflatable toilets…”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Yeah before I knew I had inadvertently attached myself to the idiot that did it.” Lena stood up to full height and just stared at Kara.

Kara fell back onto the bed. “So, what? You’re just leaving?”

“Yes, I am. I knew dating somebody at work was a bad idea. I just didn’t know how bad.”

\--

Kara breathed deeply as she hoisted up the bar racked with as much weight as she could dead lift, enjoying the strain she felt. The gym was mostly empty on Sunday morning and she was happy for the time alone. Her favorite workout playlist blared from her headphones as she tried her best not to think about Lena. She still couldn’t believe that Lena left. Sure, she should have been more upfront but didn’t Lena understand that somethings were more important than a political career? And just because Kara liked a senator didn’t mean she was going to change her whole life. 

She took in another breath as she slowly lowered the plates to the ground. She glanced up at the news and saw Maxwell Lord yammering on about the confederate statue in a dress. As the closed caption crawled across the screen, she had to physically restrain herself from exclaiming aloud, “Good people on both sides?!” Was this guy serious? All she did was put a dress on a racist statue. The other side was throwing around racist and transphobic language and making petitions to make it illegal to remove so called “historic” statues for any reason whatsoever. They were using history to keep everything stuck in the status quo, the way things always were. She bent over and roughly grabbed the bar again. Time for another set.

She had luckily let out most of her frustration lifting heavy things by the time Alex came knocking at her door. For once in her life, she was decidedly not excited to see her sister.

“Hey Alex,” Kara sighed.

Alex’s eyebrows rose. “Wow. Good morning to you, too.” She glanced around the apartment before continuing. “I waited as long as I could to come see you… I wasn’t sure how last night went.” 

If Kara was feeling more of herself, she would have enjoyed Alex’s smirk and eyebrow waggle. Instead, it just reminded her of the empty feeling she woke up with this morning. “Yeah. It did not go great.”

Alex gave her a concerned look. “Okay, I want to hear all about it but first I need your signature.”

She handed Kara few pieces of official papers. Flipping through, Kara quickly read something about defacing public property. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

“Sorry, dude. It’s just a misdemeanor. Here’s your citation. Court date will probably be set Monday. I’m pushing for you to get the nicest prosecutor but ultimately, it’s not up to me.”

Kara knew she was pushing her luck with the most recent stunt but it was still a little jarring to have the official consequences in her hand. 

Alex gave her shoulder a pat and led them over to the couch. “Okay. Tell me about the date.”

Kara brought her hand up to her face. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“It can’t have been that bad? You’ve been prattling on about her for weeks!”

“It started off great. Dinner was good. She came over…”

Alex looked at Kara expectantly, waiting for her younger sister to continue when she was ready.

“Well, she came over and it was still great. Until she saw my House of El tattoo.”

“Oh Kara.” Alex leaned over and wrapped up her sister in a light hug.

“She said the stuff we do is stupid and that she didn’t want to hurt her career.”

Alex gave her a swift, tighter embrace as she replied, “I mean, it is stupid, Kara.”

Kara rolled her eyes as she shoved her not quite so sympathetic sister away from her. She couldn’t control her voice as it rose a few notches after the disappointment and stress of the past few days. “It’s not stupid, Alex! It’s doing things that I believe in!” She realized she sounded like a petulant child, but was in no mood to control it.

“I know, I know. Well where does this leave you guys?”

“No where good. It’s going to be hard to face her tomorrow at work. Knowing that she chose work over me.”

“It’s not like that, Kara. I’m sure she was just surprised. Just give it time.”

As reluctant as Kara was to have her sister over, Alex turned out to be just what she needed. They watched movies, ate massive amounts of pizza, and engulfed ice cream by the pint (bypassing the need for bowls). After gorging on junk food, Kara was able to let her worries stray from Lena to how exactly she was going to convince Cat to give her time off for her court date. 

\--

Lena awoke with a startle, sitting straight up in bed as the beeping brought her mid-dream out of her slumber. She forcefully smacked the offending alarm off, in no mood to get up this Monday. Like a pendulum, in one week she had swung from excited to wake up and start the day to dreading returning to the Capitol and dealing with unresolved feelings that Kara had not only lied to her, but had put her in an even more perilous situation with her brother.

Sam had tried to convince her she was overreacting to the news that the House of El was behind the statue’s vandalism, but if anything her friend’s protests had just made her sink her feet further into the ground. She never should have gotten involved with someone at work, not when she was a freshman senator, not with her brother watching her every move. She had felt like it was too good to be true. Turns out it was.

She glanced at her phone and was surprised to see a deluge of notifications. She clicked on the first one and audibly gasp at the headline-

“With Fire at Local LGBT Bar, Controversy over Confederate Statues Continues”

Fire the local LGBT bar!? She quickly opened up the rest of the story. She read it as fast as she could, eyes jumping from line to line as she tried to make sense of the news story. Someone set fire to the dragged statue, possibly in an attempt to remove the clothing, spray painting “Trannies Burn in Hell” on the grass in front of the statue. A few minutes later, multiple Malotov cocktails were tossed into Al’s bar. Luckily no one was inside, but the damage to the front 1/3 of the building was significant. The same slur was spray painted over Al’s sign. The photos of the statue, with charred remnants of the dress and melted make up were like some sort of horrific art project. It looked like the fire department got to Al’s relatively quickly, but not quick enough to stop the fire from destroying the front façade of the building.

Lena sank a little into the bed. What would drive people to such a drastic reaction to such a silly stunt? She knew Kara could never have foreseen her activism becoming a catalyst for such a radical response, but it was hard not to feel vindicated in her own opinion that dabbling into criminal vandalism was not the appropriate way to protest. Mostly she was worried. Worried about Al and his bar. Worried about Kara and what could happen to her when the crazy right wing groups found out who was behind the original vandalism. And worried about her new city, previously concealed hateful attitudes not just bubbling to the surface, but exploding out and affecting everyone around.

She got to work as quickly as she could, knowing she needed time to craft some sort of response to the entire weekend. Surely, she couldn’t condone Kara’s actions… but she also wanted to emphasize the differences in the two events.

\--

Kara reached the Capitol in a daze. When she woke up to the news, her first call was to Al. He had been up all night, but other than fatigue he was feeling fine. He was already in contact with both the authorities and his insurance. He was mostly concerned with how long it would take to get the bar up and running again. Kara had apologized to him, knowing what her actions had caused. Because they hadn’t known who specifically was responsible for dragging their hero, they had clearly tried to take it out on the whole LGBT community. Al’s, with the most famous monthly drag show, was an easy target.

Al wouldn’t let Kara take any responsibility for what happened to his bar. Instead he encouraged her to keep trying to make her voice heard, whatever way she chose. It only strengthened her resolve to make it up to him. She just didn’t know how yet.  
She got through security on autopilot, not even realizing where she was while her feet took her towards Cat’s office. She vaguely noted the journalists lining the halls, clearly waiting for soundbites, but as an aide she was able to pass by practically invisible. She was a few doors down from her destination when she paused, hearing a familiar voice. She drifted off to the side, sandwiched between reporters, listening intently to what Lena had to say.

“-in the end, I’m relived that nobody was injured in this hate crime. But, we have to call it was it was. It was a hate crime, fueled by intolerance to the LGBT community and outrage over the questioning of Confederate Statues.”

The reporter pushed for more, asking, “Do you think the Confederate Statues should be removed?”

“I realize some people place a lot of historical value on them, but if you look at when they were erected, there can be no mistaking the purpose of them. They were put up to support Jim Crow Laws, laws that were unconstitutional. I see no reason to keep monuments that celebrate an unjust time, nor that serve as reminder to our current citizens how poorly their ancestors were treated.”

“Do you think we should dress them all in dresses?”

Kara could hear Lena sigh before answering. “No, I don’t think redressing the statues is the answer, either. We should go through the process of legally removing them rather than defacing them.”

Now it was Kara’s turn to sigh. Nothing like getting thrown under the bus to reporters just looking for a headline. She pushed herself away from the wall and marched the rest of the way to Cat’s office, keeping her eyes trained ahead, refusing to give them the chance of meeting Lena’s.

She swung the door open to reveal Nia’s smiling face. “Good morning, Kara!”

Kara did her best to smile as she dropped her bag on the ground and sank into her chair. 

She made it through the entire morning hiding in the office and burying herself in pointless paperwork. She was forced to abandon her safe one room haven when she had to make a delivery to Cat at the Capitol building. She hopped onto the train and plopped into the first available seat, arms crossed, head falling back against the window. She had been sitting for a good 30 seconds before a familiar scent drifted her way. She glanced to her right and noticed a classic arched eyebrow.

Kara’s eyes widen in disbelief at her horrible luck. She popped up like a jack-in-the-box, afraid of the sting she would get from sitting so close to the senator. She frantically searched for another open seat. However, when it became apparent there were no other options, she decided to casual lean on the nearest pole. She chanced a glimpse in Lena’s direction only to be met by a vaulted high eye brow.

“Was there something wrong with that seat?” Lena asked, sarcasm dripping off each word as she gestured to her left.

“Oh, no. I just thought I would stand.”

Lena continued to look politely at the staffer.

“You know, it’s better for you…. to stand. Not sit. I’ve just been sitting all day…” Kara continued to ramble as she stood up a little taller.

Lena hmmed as she nodded knowingly.

The train lurched forward and Kara roughly grabbed the pole. Once she regained her balance, she adjusted her askew glasses, and pointedly began studying the train map that showed the one upcoming stop. She was mildly aware of Lena restlessly tapping her toe on the ground as the train rumbled towards the Capitol.

Kara felt the train slow as the lights dimmed and instantly knew something was wrong. The train only knew one way to change speeds and that was abruptly. She had never peacefully coasted to a stop. Her worry grew as the overhead lights clicked all the way off, leaving only the emergency lights lightly glowing on the floor.

A mysterious announcement crackled through the speaker, the gist of which appeared to be a power loss, though Kara was able to piece together that information more from her surroundings than from anything the garbled conductor might be saying. She resisted the urge to bang her head against the pole in frustration. Being stuck with a date that walked out on her two days previous on a broken-down train at work was low on her to do list. She lifted her phone from her pocket to confirm what she already knew- there was no service.

“Going to start doing some squats? Or would you like to sit down?”

God. Lena seemed completely unaffected by Saturday night. How could she be so casual now after being so angry 48 hours ago? 

That’s fine. That’s fine. Kara could play cool, too. “Nah, tomorrow’s leg day.” As she sat down, she was suddenly glad for the cover of darkness around them. Other than the light glow by her feet, all of her surroundings were muddled in grey. She heard the surrounding passengers begin light conversations, trying to pass the time while they were stuck below the city in the bowels of the tunnel.

“So, are you going to tell me again what a bad idea it was to put General Lee in a dress?” Kara asked, unable to control her emotions any longer.

“No, Kara, I think I was pretty clear about that on Saturday.” Lena whispered back. “And, I’m pretty sure now is not a great time to talk about it.”

Kara could hear the frustration in Lena’s voice and imagined her with her arms crossed, lips pursed. “I heard your interview this morning…” Kara didn’t want to sound dejected but had trouble keeping the accusations out of her voice.

“I didn’t say anything to the reporters that I wouldn’t say to your face.”

“You made it sound like I was just as bad as the people that tried to burn down Al’s!” Kara hissed back.

“I made it extremely clear that what they did was a completely different level than what you did.” Lena answered evenly.

All Kara could manage to respond with was a grumpy huff.

“Look, I just don’t think what you did is helpful to the cause… stooping to breaking the law instead of working with people like Cat to change it the right way.”

“But nothing was changing! Stuff like what I did is extremely effective in getting people to actually talk about the problem and you know what? I don’t even think you getting mad is all about what I did.” Kara waited for a protest before continuing. When she was only met with silence she plowed on. “I think you’re actually just scared of Lex outing us.”

“Of course, I’m scared of Lex outing us! You should be scared, too!”

“Why? I don’t care if people know we dated. I don’t care if he tells the world I put Robert E. Lee in a skirt! don’t care if he tells everybody about Smash.”

A buzz of electricity jolted past the two women and the eerie glow was flooded out with the overhead lights coming to life as the train jerked back to life. 

“I’m not ashamed of who I am.” Kara looked into Lena’s pensive eyes, hoping she would understand. Begging her to understand. There was no need to be afraid of Lex. His only power over them was Lena’s shame. In a matter of seconds, the train lurched to a stop. Lena stood and gathered her bag, not sparing another word for Kara before debarking the train.

\--

 _I am NOT scared of Lex outing us! That is not what this is about!_ Lena muttered to herself as she walked the halls of the Capitol, power walking a path straight to the Senate. _This is about Kara, trying to play superhero, breaking laws, and lying to me about it!_ The clicking of her heels was strangely therapeutic as she continued to rant in her head. _You know what, Kara? I’m not ashamed of who I am either! I am proud to be an out bi lady. I’ve never hid who I am from the public eye and I’m not about to start now-_

“Ms. Luthor.” Cat greeted Lena with a short nod and Lena’s internal tirade was rudely interrupted.

“Ms. Grant.” Lena responded with an equally curt nod as she slid by the minority leader to reach her seat in the senate chambers. She wondered vaguely if Cat knew what her most trusted aide had been up to. If Cat would still hire her with a criminal record. If she laughed when she saw the bearded man with high heels plastered over his boots.

It was a short session, a quick in and out vote to examine the living conditions of the immigrant facilities at the southern border. After an impassioned speech from Cat about how this wasn’t enough, the majority leader called for a vote and the measure passed. She made her way back to the train and silently begged to whoever was listening that Kara was already back at Cat’s office… or still in the Capitol… or really anywhere except for on her train car.

She made it back to her office and she was surprised to see all of her staff crowded around Jess’ phone watching some sort of video. She crossed her arms, gave her best impression of her mother, and cleared her throat with an impressive amount of threat. The circle of staffers all jumped at the same time and the circle around Jess expanded slightly, giving Lena a clear view of her aid.

“Ms. Luthor! You have got to see this!” Jess said breathlessly, waiving over her boss. 

She parted the waters of her staff and irritably waited for the video to begin. It appeared to be some sort of local news video, and she had to suppress an audible groan as what could only be described as her Senate archnemesis appeared. Maxwell Lord, also representing New York, also a freshman senator, however standing on the diametrically opposite end of the political spectrum. Because of this the two of them were always featured together in any stories appearing in the Daily Planet back home in Metropolis. He was young, rich, and smarmy and she wished she could slap the smile off his dumb face; especially after the insensitive comments he made about good people being on both sides of the confederate statue debate.

The video opened with Maxwell Lord stating “I was wrong.”

Well. That was something you don’t hear every day. Lena leaned a littler closer to the phone.

“While I am sure there are good people on both sides, after the activities of protest this weekend, I can no longer support maintaining the historical Confederate statues in the United States. I understand a lot of people only see them as they were meant to be- honoring those brave souls who fought in the Civil War-“

Lena rolled her eyes. That was just definitely not what they were meant to be.

“But some clearly see them as an emblem of White Supremacy, empowering them to perform violent attacks not just on racial minorities but on all people that are different than them. That chapter in our history should be closed, as should racist, homophobic, and sexist attacks on our citizens.”

Lena had no idea what to say. Clearly the reporter didn’t either. She just stood beside the ingratiating Senator with her mouth slack for a few seconds while Lord smiled at the camera. Eventually she must have remembered what to say because she asked, “What are you proposing we do about this situation?”

“I’m cosponsoring a bill to remove Confederate Statues, starting in National City, then all across the US and replacing them with statues that honor our minority citizens. The Confederate Statues will be placed in historical museums as citizens see fit.”

\--

Kara grimaced as she looked up at the charred remains of the front of Al’s. The transphobic slur had already been painted over, but it didn’t erase it from her memory after seeing it on the news this morning. She walked through the open door, kicking away the small singed debris to clear a path. Winn and James were already there, along with a half a dozen others, starting to clean the mess. 

She joined her partners in crime and began collecting the debris, sorting through the memories of years of performing there, drinking there, celebrating there. The blackened fabric from her favorite booth, the walls unrecognizably smudged with ash, and the enveloping smell of smoke were all unrelenting reminders of what had happened. 

“Does Al have a plan for reopening yet?” Kara asked, scooping up and placing wreckage into the large trash bin.

“I think it’s too early for that. When we talked to him today, he was happy for the help to clean up but knew it would be time before the renovations could start.” James explained.

“I just feel so bad about it.” Winn huffed as he swept up the remnants of the cardboard rainbow coasters.

“I know.” Kara sighed. “It’s impossible to not feel responsible.”

“What if we do what the House of El does best?” James asked to his despondent comrades.

They both looked up and quizzical looks.

“Raise money?” James responded with his eyes drawn together in disbelief. It was, after all, what drag queens were great at during their performances. “You know the insurance isn’t going to be enough to get this place back to where it was. And, honestly, it would take away a little of the guilt that we brought this upon him….”

The wheels in Kara’s brain were already turning. “We could do patriotic historical realness! I could be Lincoln!” She stopped and channeled her best Abraham impression, standing a little higher, bringing her hand up like it was holding the front fold of a suit jacket. “Four score and seven years ago…”

“Yeah, maybe we should keep brainstorming…” Winn said with a slight frown. “But that is a great idea!” he said to James as he clapped him on the back.

Kara shrugged. Lincoln’s hat would be an awesome addition to her collection.

Winn looked back at Kara, “Hey. You never told us how your date went Saturday!”

Kara shook her head. “Yeah, there’s a reason.” She briefly explained their half naked fight and unfortunate train experience.

“I told you that Luthors were no good!” James stated with a knowing nod.

Kara’s lips drew together. “Look, you’ve got to get over what happened between Lex and Clark. She’s not up to no good. If anything, she’s just afraid of her brother.”

Winn looked at Kara. “You still like her? After she left like that?”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s over me.” The last few words were muffled into Winn’s shoulder as Kara found herself in a particularly aggressive hug, sandwiched between the two men.

\--

“How did you find this place?” Lena asked. The wood paneling, cowboy apparel framed on the wall, and excessive use of the word “ya’ll” on the menu were a lot to take in. Not to mention the mechanical bull that she would bet good money on that Sam had ridden at least once.

“Well, Al’s is closed… I figured you would want a change in location after last weekend?”

“No, but really, how did you find this place?”

“Hush, Lena. The food is great and the beer is cheap.”

“I don’t know if it excuses the music.” Lena deadpanned as she glanced at the menu again.

Sam continued to stare resolutely at Lena. “So… you’re just going to keep rereading the menu instead of giving me the Smash update?”

“Let’s not call it not the Smash update,” Lena responded with a huff. “Plus, I don’t know what you want me to say… I already told you I walked out on Saturday after seeing her tattoo.”

“The fact that you saw that tattoo tells me things were going pretty well.”

“Until I found out about her criminal background and inclination for lying.”

“Come on, Lena. It’s not that big of a deal. What’s really going on?” Sam asked, eyes upturned in concern.

“Look, it was just too much, too fast. I don’t have time for a relationship, not when I should be focusing on my work as a senator… it’s also a PR nightmare.” Lena could feel her walls drawing up.

“Lena. Most people just thought it was a silly prank. And the ones that didn’t probably aren’t the ones that are going to vote for you.” Sam looked earnestly at Lena. “Plus, Kara’s got a point… it did help move the discussion forward on the statues. Did you see Lord’s statement?”

Lena shook her head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe it.”

“I mean he’s a jerk, but he’s a jerk with a transgender sister. So maybe seeing all the hateful things people were saying about her helped him realize how hateful the statues are at baseline.”

Lena shook her head in disbelief. “He should have just realized how racist they were to begin with.”

“I know. But I’m just saying that while putting Robert E. Lee in a dress isn’t your kind of political activism doesn’t mean you should judge Kara and her friends.”

Lena took a sip of her beer and looked doubtfully at her friend. “Kara said I’m just scared of Lex.”

Sam crinkled her nose in trepidation. “Well…. Aren’t you?”

Lena’s eyes narrowed as she responded in a gruff voice. “What?”

“You haven’t voted like he wants you to vote…” Sam lightly patted Lena’s hand reassuringly. “But you also haven’t made any move to stop his blackmailing.”

“What exactly am I supposed to do?” Lena asked exasperatedly.

“I don’t know. The Luthor family dynamic isn’t exactly my forte but maybe you should publicly call him out for what he is.”

“That’s the whole point of blackmailing, Sam. He has information I don’t want public.”

“Is what he knows really so bad? Cut your Luthor ties! Don’t let Lex affect you and Smash.”

“I beg you. Let’s talk about literally anything else.”

Sam paused. “Okay, fine. I’ll complain about Ruby’s teacher. BUT only if you promise to think about what I said.”

Lena took another sip of the cold, cheap beer as she stared off into space. The lilting song in the background cut through the clinkling glasses and muffled conversations of the bar, as the lyrics seemed to burn into Lena’s ears.

_If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be. Baby, just let it be. So won’t you ride with me, ride with me? See where this thing goes. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be. Baby, just let it be…_

_\--_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping up everything for a happily ever after....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! I can't believe it's taken this long to post. Turns out endings are hard to write. 
> 
> Special thanks to Aristophanes for thinking up the perfect drag name for Alex!
> 
> 1 more short epilogue in the future.

“Keira. You know the policy about vacation. You have to submit requests at least one month in advance. Then pending my approval, you may leave work early.” Cat peered over her reading glasses, the tips of her fingers resting on each other, the look of irritation easily discernable to Kara who had worked with her for years.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Grant, but I didn’t know about… my appointment until recently.” Kara looked down at her shuffling feet, hating the way her boss made her feel small.

“And what, exactly, is so important about this ‘appointment’?” Cat asked with excessive use of sarcastic hand quotes.

Kara took a deep breath, seeing no way around the truth. “I have a court date for a misdemeanor.”

Cat blinked slowly as she drew out the pause. “What kind of misdemeanor?”

“Defacing public property…” Kara stood up straighter as she adjusted her glasses. “I may have been involved with putting Robert E. Lee in a dress.”

“Ha!”

Kara looked more closely at her boss. Was she smiling?

“Oh Keira, I knew you enjoyed dressing like a man on the weekends, but forcing that poor old general into that dress….” Cat said as she chuckled to herself. “I’ll never forget his lipstick and beard. Or the heels! Those were some good heels to waste on an effigy of a racist, straight man.”

Kara couldn’t decide what exactly was happening. Was Cat mad? Was she… proud? “Wait… you knew about Smash?”

“Keira, I know about everything.”

“… can I go to my court date?”

Cat sighed. “Of course. I also can’t wait to see how much work you can get done when you come in alone for the next four Saturdays.”

\--

Buzz.

Lena glanced at her blinking office phone before pushing the button.

“Ms. Luthor, there’s a Mr. Clark Kent on line 1.”

Lena’s eyebrows knit together. Talking to the press was not one of her favorite duties as a politician. She sighed, assuming this was still about Kara’s vandalism. She pressed line 1 and put on her most professional voice.

“Hello, Mr. Kent, what can I do for you today?”

“Ah! Senator Luthor! It’s so good to speak to you again!”

Lena cocked her head to side. She had certainly read stories by the famous Clark Kent, but she never remembered being actually talking to the reporter before today. She paused, unsure how to respond.   
Clark must have sensed her hesitation because he further explained, “I’d heard so much about you from my cousin Kara, but it was nice to meet you in person after the parade…” 

As he trailed off, Lena’s eyes widened. Was Clark Kent, intrepid reporter by day, also Margo Steel, all American girl? She felt her face heat up as she remembered her conspicuously long absence from the after party. “Oh, of course.” She thought back to the small profile photo she had seen of Clark in the Daily Planet for so many years and tried to picture him covering up his strong jaw line as Margo. Either Kara’s family was extremely skilled at make up or she just really couldn’t get past how different they looked without glasses.

“Well, anywho, I don’t want to keep you long, I just wanted to know about your thoughts about the bill that Maxwelll Lord and Cat Grant are proposing.”

Lena forced herself to ignore the finer details of drag and refocused on the issue at hand. “While I was surprised about the cosponsors, I have to say I am excited to see actual change on the issue. The people of this country deserve statues that uplift the entire population, not celebration of past wrongs.” 

“Will you vote for the bill?”

“Yes,” Lena responded without hesitation.

“This is the only time I have you on the record voting for something that Lord is proposing.” 

Lena could hear the smile in Clark’s voice. She gave a short laugh. “This may be the only time that ever happens.”

The rest of the interview went surprisingly well after Lena recovered from the shock of having already met Clark without realizing it. Clark seemed to assume that things were still going well with Kara and Lena, and Lena felt no need to correct him. She was already beginning to feel the loss of her best work friend and was tired of the looming dread that came with every turn of the corner, expecting to see Kara’s hurt face. While she wasn’t ready to admit she overreacted to the news that her… date? girlfriend? was a criminal, she was beginning to think she may have judged the House of El a little too harshly.

Afterall, the pranks they did paled in comparison to the arsons that tried to destroy Al’s bar. Plus, look at the good that was coming out of dragging the confederate statue- there was a real possibility that not just the statues in National City, but even more of the racist statues around the country would be removed. Maxwell Lord, dick that he was, pretty much admitted that the hateful response to the dress directed at the LGBT community was what opened his eyes that the people that were fighting to keep the status quo were fueled by anger and racism. Lena thought he was an idiot to not realize that previously, but in the end Kara’s vandalism had the exact effect she wanted it to…to change someone’s mind and start the process for real change.

Lena flipped through the photoalbum on her phone, pausing on the most recent picture of her and Kara. She hated being wrong. Well, technically, she wasn’t wrong… she just needed some time to come to terms with the fact that Kara lied to her. Anybody would have been upset about that. She let out a frustrated sigh. None of this changed the fact that Lex was still trying to out her and Kara. Not to mention, now Kara had given Lex more than enough fuel to ignite an all-out scandal. She was tired of living under Lex’s thumb, but she couldn’t see any way of escaping his influence without him telling the world the one the NY senators was dating a political activist. A political activist who was recently charged with vandalism. 

In every scenario she thought of, the result was the same. She knew she would never agree to Lex’s political agenda so the story would eventually break. She just needed to prepare herself for the inevitable… prepare Kara for the backlash. If only there was a way she could get out ahead of it. To spin it so the world saw the blackmailer as the true villain, Lex and all of his money fueled corruption, trying to bend the democracy for his own personal gain…

\--

Kara gently wiped off the powdered sugar from her fingers on a napkin before grabbing her phone. Winn and James were hammering out the details of the fundraiser for Al’s that she hoped would bring in enough money to start some of the restoration. It was shaping up to be quite the party and Kara already had her Smash outfit planned. She was startled from the text chain by someone calling her name and almost dropped her phone when she looked up into Lena’s face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Lena hesitated for a second before continuing. She looked timid and Kara didn’t think the formidable woman had ever looked one bit apprehensive. “May I sit down?”

“Ahh… yes?” Kara responded, unsure of what could possibly be said between the two of them.

Lena sat down in the chair across from Kara at her small coffee shop table. Kara was struck that this was the first time Lena was joining her instead of the other way around.

“Hi?” Kara responded and groaned internally. She really needed to stop making all of her words into questions. But before she got a verbal response, Lena’s hand was already closing the distance between them.

“You’ve got a little….” Lena said lightly as her thumb grazed the corner of Kara’s mouth.

Kara blushed as she fully wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, silently cursing the deliciousness of powered donuts.

Lena smiled and continued. “Do you have Clark’s contact information?”

Kara’s brows furrowed in confusion. “My cousin?”

“Yes.”

Kara searched Lena’s face for why she would need to get in touch with Clark, but could find no clues as to what Lena was planning. “Sure, I can text it to you.”

“Thanks!” Lena answered brightly, standing up from her seat and placing her purse back on her shoulder. She made to turn away, but stopped, hand still wrapped around the black leather straps of her purse. “You were serious when you said you weren’t afraid for everyone to know about us?” Pause. “About Smash? About the House of El?”

Kara’s mouth turned into a slight frown. “Of course, I was.”

“And you’re willing to risk your job?”

Kara continued to wonder where all of these questions were coming from and what Lena was planning. It seemed like Lena would always be surprising her. “Well, yes. But it turns out Cat knows more than she lets on. She already knew about Smash.”

Lena smirked and replied, “Did she call you Smush?”

“Ha. Ha.” Kara looked down at her partially eaten donut and carefully rotated it a few degrees. “I also had to tell her about my court date.”

Lena’s features fell. Her hand moved towards Kara but then seemed to change her mind. “Court date? I’m sorry, Kara.”

Kara shrugged halfheartedly. “I guess everyone was right. This time was a tad too far.”

Lena looked skeptical. “I’m sure whatever damage they claimed you did to the statue was small in comparison to the effect of setting it on fire.”

Kara glanced down at her donut again. She was doing her best to not think about her pending date with the legal system.

“Well, I really have to go… but I will see you Saturday.”

Kara peeked up again, eyes questioning.

“The fundraiser at Al’s? I wouldn’t miss it.”

Kara couldn’t help but watch the swish of Lena’s suit as she sauntered away. What was happening? Asking for Clark’s info and trying to make her feel better about her so-called secret criminal activities? She often found herself baffled by the Senator’s actions but this was a whole new level. She polished off the rest of the donut and tried to return to planning for Saturday.

\--

After reading over her email to Clark Kent, Lena took a deep breath before hitting send. While Kara had seemed unphased by the idea of so much personal information leaking to the public, Lena was still uncomfortable with it. But the prospect of exposing her brother for the blackmailing jackwagon that he was, was just too much for the younger Luthor to pass up on. Plus, she was sure Clark would do his best to protect Kara’s sensitive information.

She had unfortunately thrown away most of the implicating letters and notes from her brother over the past few months, but she had promised Clark evidence of the blackmailing. So, after checking that her office door was completely closed, she started crawling around her floor, peeking under all the furniture, looking for the crumpled incriminating letter Lex had most recently sent to her. She remembered tossing it off the side and hoped that the cleaning staff had not done too thorough a cleaning job. 

Sure enough, in the corner, wedged under the back foot of the couch, was a slightly dusty, but still intact letter from Lex. She smoothed it on her desk and put it together with the photos Lex had sent her. She had also printed out all of the ledgers from LuthorCorp that she had access to showing the flow of money from the company to shell corporations that had made questionable donations to politicians in the past. If Clark decided to run the story, she was going to give him all the information he needed.

She mentally checked off another item of her to do list. Now she just had to learn the lyrics to that stupid song she heard in the bar with Sam. She briefly wondered if sending enough flowers to overflow Kara’s office was too much? Maybe she would wait and see how things went with the story.

\--

It had really been a long week for Kara with planning for Al’s fundraiser, bizarre interactions with Lena, and trying to sort through the legal mess she had found herself in waiting for her court date. Her lawyer had finagled a deal with the prosecutor- with a guilty plea, she would just be responsible for what the statue restoration would have cost plus court fees. The deal felt like a win; she was more than willing to announce her guilt and take responsibility for her actions. She scrolled through her emails one last time for the day when she received a very cryptic one from her cousin.

Hey Kara,  
I wanted to make sure you were okay with this article before it goes to the printer tonight. Let me know if you want me to make any changes. Say hi to Alex for me.”  
-Clark

Kara opened up the attachment with confusion. She didn’t know of any story in the Daily Planet that would involve her. She audibly gasped as she read the headline:

Billionaire Businessman Lex Luthor Using Money and Blackmail to Sway Democracy

She was halfway through speed reading the article when her screen flashed with an incoming call from her sister. She frustratedly answered the call wanting to finish the article as quickly as possible.

“Hey Alex.”

“Kara! I heard about the plea deal! You going to take it?” Kara could hear the excitement in her sister’s voice.

“Yeah.” Kara answered with less enthusiasm. The plea deal was old news. She wanted to read the unpublished breaking news.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” there was a sight pause of the phone “I thought you’d be finished up with work?”

“I am, I was just reading this article that Clark sent me.”

“Uh hmmm…” Alex waited for Kara to continue.

Kara sighed, not wanting to waste any more time explaining when she could be reading. “It’s exposing Lex and LuthorCorp for meddling into national politics and even blackmailing Lena… I think… I think Lena gave him all of the insider information. Which is crazy because she’s been so scared about Lex telling the world about us and then she just went and told the world.”

“Us? Are you and Lena an us?”

Kara grimaced a little. Were they still an us? She didn’t think so. “No…. We haven’t really talked that much since she left. Well we did recently and she acted all funny and nice, but I don’t think so, no.”  
“She acted all funny and nice. I’m going to need you to unpack that a little bit.” Alex responded with an emphasis on “funny and nice” – Kara could just imagine her sister’s eager face.

Kara tried to downplay their most recent confusing interaction. “She just said she was coming to Al’s.”

“Well, that sounds like a good sign, Kara.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know what she’s thinking. Things were going so well until they weren’t and now has anything really changed?” Kara knew she was approaching rambling speed but she didn’t like not knowing what Lena was thinking. Nothing really had changed- Kara still lied about her involvement with the House of El, she was still pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, and as far as Kara knew Lena was still get blackmailed by her crazy older brother.

“It sounds like she’s trying to make a change.” Alex responded quietly and calmly. “Are you ready for Saturday?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You still coming?”

“I wouldn’t miss it!”

At least Kara would have her big sister by her side for whatever Saturday night brought.

\--

Lena was trying to convince herself to breathe and calm down as she searched through the tables set up around the inside of the bar. The room felt a lot more open with most of the furniture and decorations removed after the fire. The front of the building was completely open to the street, with only the wooden studs standing, allowing a cool breeze to circulate. When she finally spotted Sam, she was already sitting and talking with two people. As she got closer, she groaned to herself recognizing Kara’s older sister from pictures she had seen. She set her shoulders as she approached the table.

“Lena!” Sam sprung up with open arms, clearly having already started on her drink.

Lena returned the hug, glad for the comfort from her friend.

“Lena, this is Alex and Kelly!” Sam explained gesturing at the two other women before introducing them back to Lena.

Kelly smiled and shook her hand, but Alex only gave her a slight nod while crossing her arms in front of her chest. Lena’s lips drew together as she pulled out her chair.

Sam, glanced at both women, and asked, “Do you two know each other?”

“Alex is Kara’s sister...” Lena explained as pleasantly as she could.

A look of understanding crossed Sam’s face before she clenched her teeth and drew her mouth comically downwards. 

Kelly bumped into Alex’s shoulder, making the larger woman relax a little. 

Kelly took the opportunity to steer the conversation, “Anyways! We were just talking about how excited we were for the show.” 

Sam nodded. “And, what our drag names are.”

Lena gave a look of confusion. “But you don’t do drag?”

“No. But that doesn’t stop me from having a great name!” Sam sat up a little straighter and puffed out her chest. “Max Reign.”

“Nice to meet you Max, I’m Coppa Feel.” Alex offered her hand to Sam and they shook emphatically. 

Kelly just rolled her eyes at the two of them and continued to sip her drink.

“Hmm. I have no idea what my name would be.”

Sam shook her head in sadness. “Oh Lena, you don’t pick your drag name… it picks you and the rest is herstory. Do you want to get a drink before the show starts?”

Lena grimaced. “No, I’m fine.”

Sam looked surprised and concerned. She leaned a little closer to Lena. “Are you okay?”

Lena tried to shrug off her concern. “Yeah of course. I’m just a little nervous.”

“Nervous? Why are you nervous? It’s not like you’re performing!”

Lena just shrugged as she tried to mentally review the lyrics in her head for the fiftieth time that day.

\--

As the lights dimmed, Smash and the rest of the queens prepared to take the stage. It looked like a sold-out house and Smash was excited for their show built around resistance because even though they were standing in a burned out shell of their home, Smash knew they would always fight for each other. Smash smiled and adjusted his hat as Holly started the music. Smash was going to take center stage in the opening number, flocked by brilliantly dressed queens, lipsyncing to an epic mashup of FloRida’s “Our House” and Sam Hunts “House Party”. It seemed to be the only logical way to open up the return of Al’s.

Smash strutted and danced to the songs in a choreographed number that had the entire house up cheering, especially when the spotlight found Al behind the bar and he gave an embarrassed wave halfway through the mashup.

After his big opening act, Smash had little to do for the rest of the show, just his normal MC duties. He introduced act after act of scantily clad queens performing to Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter”, No Doubt’s “Just a Girl,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”. She particularly loved the way Holly embraced the disco look, with massive platform shoes and her flared rainbow pantsuit while tossing out giant fluffy hearts into the audience while lipsyncing to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” 

By far the most interesting act was LaGuardia’s interpretation of Shakira’s “She Wolf”. Smash was skeptical of this choice, to say the least, when she first told him about it. Not to say he didn’t love Shakira. Everybody loved Shakira. It just seemed like an odd song for the occasion. However, as LaGuardia slowly shed layers of her fur wolf costume to lyrics like “coming out, coming out, coming out” and “there’s a she wolf in the closet, open up and set her free” Smash understood the appeal. LaGuardia, who began the song hidden behind a screen, projecting her shadow and stalking across the stage transformed from full wolf to full woman eventually in nothing but a small furry bikini. Every single time she howled with the song, Smash got chills.

The final runway was purely a celebration of the House of El dragging the Confederate statue. All of the queens came dressed as historical figures, but with a gender bending twist- a bearded Eleanor Roosevelt, a feminized George Patton, George Washington in a dress, anything that would infuriate the people that set fire to Al’s. Smash was just about to take the stage one last time to close the night out when Holly handed him a tiny slip of paper with an exaggerated wink. He didn’t have time to unfold it before he was thrust on to the stage.

He stumbled onto stage and tried to recover his balance. He let out a quick “ummm” as he unfolded the tiny slip of paper in front of the audience. All it said was:

Invite Lena to the stage.

“Well, it looks like there’s one more surprise act?” He glanced at the paper again. “Ah, I guess, put your hands together for Senator Lena Luthor…” His confusion overtook some of the normal enthusiasm he would usually use to introduce acts, but last-minute changes to acts where not his favorite. His eyes soon found Lena, making her way up the stage. She looked beautiful, like always, but more nervous than he had ever seen her. He put the mic back into the stand, and turned to make his way off the stage. He was met with Holly’s furious hand motions to stay put, so instead he pivoted back to the audience and shot Lena a questioning look.

Lena leaned in close and said “I think you’ll know this one…” before taking the mic. The music to “Meant to Be” started playing and Smash suddenly understood why he was still on stage.

The song started straight into the second verse, with Lena taking the lead. She started out tentatively, but seemed to gain confidence as she went. “I don’t mean to be so uptight, but my heart’s been hurt a couple times….” Smash joined in at the end of the verse and saw Lena visibly relax knowing she had a willing partner for the duet. They sang the chorus easily together, “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be, it’ll be, baby just let it be…” voices blending harmoniously. With the blinding spotlight shading his vision, Smash felt like it was just the two of them on stage. 

As the music started to fade, Lena leaned back over to Smash and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

That was all the apology Smash needed. He leaned in and whispered "I'm sorry, too." Before registering that they were standing in front of a packed bar of moderately drunk people, he had his hands wrapped around Lena, lips searching for what they had been missing the past few weeks. As Lena hungrily returned the kiss, hoots and hollers from the crowd started to penetrate their embrace. Smash grabbed his hat, pulling it in front of their interlocked faces, blocking out the harsh spotlight. As his eyes slowly opened, he gave Lena a shy smile.

She let out a small giggle, letting her forehead drop into his.

The crowd’s support seemed to gain steam the longer they were hidden behind Smash’s hat and over the deafening noise, Smash reached down to interlock their fingers together. He brought his hat up in a wave and gently led Lena off the stage, taking care to not let go of her hand. He knew what he had and he didn't want to let go.


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this took longer than expected. Crazy work... my family of 3 becoming a family of 4... not knowing exactly how to wrap everything up. Anyways, here it is!

Lena let out a small laugh as she heard Alex break out another short explicative. “Having trouble with the make up?” she asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

“I have literally no idea how Kara does this every week. This is the most tedious thing I have ever had to do.” Alex said as she dabbled a little more black across her chin. “And you know how much paperwork I have to deal with.”

Lena just smiled in response. Kara made getting ready look so easy, but seeing someone inexperienced attempt the transformation was quite another experience. Alex let out another groan.

“Alex. I hear you. I will be with you in a second.” Smash responded, teeth gritted. He was currently helping Sam… no, Lena corrected herself: Max!, with the final touches of his outfit. 

“Excuse me, I am officially Coppa, now.”

Smash sighed. “You haven’t even performed yet! As I have been telling you, you need to earn your drag name.”

Coppa adjusted his hat, “With all the practice we’ve done, I’ve definitely earned it.”

Max made a hum of approval as he looked in the mirror. “Thanks Smash!”

Coppa glanced over. “Yep, Max looks amazing. Now you need to help me!”

Lena grinned as Smash rolled her eyes as she walked past in the small dressing room. “You know I had to work late tonight. But I got my first byline!”

Kelly jumped in the conversation. “Congrats Kara! How are you enjoying working as a fledgling reporter?”

Smash’s eyes lit up in excitement. “I love it! I can’t wait to see my name in print. And Clark has been giving me such good advice.” 

Lena smiled to herself. She was so proud that Kara had switched careers after Clark's story landed Lex in jail. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you escaped working for Cat before she fired your for sleeping with a senator.” Alex grumbled as Smash put more hair gel in her hair.

Smash looked affronted. “Cat wasn’t going to fire me! I was ready to move on to bigger things!”

Lena made eyes at Kelly. The pre-show nerves were definitely starting to show. “Well. Why don’t we let you guys finish getting ready? Can’t wait for the show!” 

Kelly nodded and gave Coppa a quick kiss, careful not to leave any lipstick behind. Lena gave Smash a smack on the butt and they made their way to their reserved table at the front of Al’s. 

It had taken some time to renovate the bar after the vandalism, but with help from the original Resistance show, the space looked better than ever. Lena walked to the bar and the bartender immediately served her an old fashioned and a martini without needing to order. She brought the drinks back to the table.

Kelly was staring off into space, fingers nervously tapping together.

Lena slid the martini across the table to the other women. “They’re going to be fine.” she said confidently.

Kelly looked skeptical. “Smash. Smash will be fine. The other two?” She shook her head and took a deep breath.

“They will also be fine.” 

Lena didn’t get a chance to finish the conversation before the lights dimmed. The crowd hushed and out from the curtain stepped Smash, mic in hand. “Welcome to the THIRD ANNUAL RESISTANCE BALL!” As the applause roared, Lena joined in, smiling and thinking back to her first drag show at Al’s. She was both excited and nervous for Sam to be on the other side of the curtain.

The show, like always, featured the best the House of El had to offer. Drag Queens strutted, sang, and performed; but Kelly and Lena had really only come for one reason. Finally, after what felt like days of acts, a trio of dapper dressed men, all in 90s inspired oversized jean jackets and white undershirts emerged. Smash took center stage, with Coppa Feel and Max Reign flanking his sides, slightly kneeling, all looking at the ground waiting for the music to start. As “I Want it That Way” started playing, all three looked up at the audience at the same time and Lena knew it was going to be a good show. Clearly their time spent practicing had paid off as their choreographed, intricate moves hit each beat; lipsyncing seamlessly to a medley featuring the Backstreet Boys, Hanson’s “Mmmmm Bop”, and N’sync’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” 

The crowd ate up the boy band act just as much as Kelly and Lena did. It was really fun seeing Alex and Sam attempt to keep up with Kara as they posed and winked their way across the stage. So what if the inner Lena teenager came out and she screamed and yelled a little too forcefully when the medley finally ended? She was going home with one of them. 

As the lights dimmed again, Lena expected the music to fade out as it did during all of their practices. Instead, a soft melody that she couldn’t quite place began playing as a the spot light searched the stage for the next performers. 

Smash’s voice, still offstage, rang through the crowd- “I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky…” and the three amigos reappeared on the stage, this time in matching black suits and ties, Smash with his trademark hat. Max and Coppa joined in the on the chorus, but Lena could tell Smash was the star of the show. And the star of the show’s eyes were laser focused on her. 

-For better or worse, till death do us part-

Smash hopped off stage and started walking towards Lena.

-I’ll love you with every beat of my heart-

Lena stayed seated, waiting to see what on earth her girlfriend had planned.

-And I swear-

Smash knelt on one knee and reached into his pocket, bringing out a small box. “Lena Luthor, will you marry me?” Smash asked, a little breathless after singing, eyes wide and hopeful.

Lena made no move to accept the classic solitaire diamond ring. “That depends,” she answered, keeping her face neutral.

Smash audible swallowed, his brow furrowed in concern barely visible beneath the brim of his hat. “Depends on what?”

Lena sighed as she reached into her purse and brought out another small box. She opened it revealing a tungsten band and finally cracked a smile. “Will you marry me?”

Smash dramatically pratfell from his kneeling position as Kelly let out a squeal of delight in Lena’s ear. The rest of the audience clapped and hooted.

Lena let out a small laugh. “Get up you big doofus.”

Smash popped up to standing and offered his hand to Lena. Lena let herself be gently pulled to standing from her chair, just a smidge shorter than Smash in her high heels. She couldn’t hide the wide grin on her face.

“You were going to ask me tonight, too?!” not letting go of Lena’s hand.

“That was the plan. I, however, was going to wait until after the show for a slightly less public affair,” Lena responded with an arch of her brow.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Smash asked, taking out the ring and sliding it onto Lena’s finger. He stopped right before the knuckle. “Wait did you actually say yes?”

“Yes, Kara. I will marry you.”

Smash pushed the snug fitting ring the rest of the way onto Lena’s hand. Lena looked down thinking how perfect a fit it was. When she looked up, Kara’s face was glowing.

Smash exclaimed, “I’ll marry you, too!” and Lena took that as an instruction to put on the other engagement ring.

“Aaaaheeem.” Coppa coughed near Smash’s ear.

“Oh jeez!” Smash let a soft giggle realizing they were still in front of an audience. He hopped back on stage and dragged Lena up there as well. “Well! Ah… yep! That’s the show! Thanks for coming out, supporting the bar and the cause. You don’t have to go home, but can’t stay here… I’ve got more important things to do!” he rambled on, refusing to let go of Lena’s hand.

Alex shook her head at the blather.

“Like kiss my fiancé!”

Alex stage whispered, “Wrap it up, Romeo.”

“House of El! Al’s Bar! See you next year!” Smash said as he dragged his new fiancé off stage, pulling her close, ready to celebrate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everybody who read, commented, gave kudos! I can't believe it's been a year since I started writing fanfiction.
> 
> As always, you can come talk to me on tumblr ravenclawswimmer. I've got some ideas for my next work, we will just have to see when I have to time to write it!

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr for some photos of what inspired the drag show!
> 
> https://ravenclawswimmer.tumblr.com/


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